A nym server (short for "pseudonym server") is a server that provides an untraceable e-mail address, such that neither the nym server operator nor the operators of the remailers involved can discover which nym corresponds to which real identity. In cryptography, pseudonymity is the ability to prove a consistent identity without revealing oneself, instead using a pseudonym. ... In computing, a server is: A computer software application that carries out some task (i. ...

To set up a nym, one creates a PGP keypair and submits it to the nym server, along with instructions (called a reply block) to anonymous remailers on how to send a message to his real address. The nym server returns a confirmation through this reply block. He then sends a message to the address in the confirmation. Pgp is an acronym for: Pretty Good Privacy, a computer program for the encryption and decryption of data; P-glycoprotein, a type of protein Party for the Government of the People (Partido por el Gobierno del Pueblo} Pearl of Great Price the ICAO code for Perm Airlines This page concerning... An anonymous remailer is a server computer which receives messages with embedded instructions on where to send them next, and which forwards them without revealing where they originally came from. ...

To send a message from the nym, one adds a few headers at the beginning, then signs it with his nym key and encrypts it to the nym server key. He sends it to the nym server, normally through anonymous remailers so that it cannot be traced. The nym server then sends it out, with the From: address being the nym.

When the nym server gets a message addressed to the nym, it appends it to the reply block for that nym and sends it to the first remailer in the chain. That remailer then sends it to the next, and so on until it reaches the user's real address. It is quite obviously good practice to add instructions to encrypt it on the way, so that the message one gets cannot be matched to the one the nym server sent by someone (or some organization) doing in/out traffic analysis. Traffic analysis is the process of intercepting and examining messages in order to deduce information from patterns in communication. ...

See also

• Anonymous remailer
• Pseudonymous remailer
• Tor (Anonymous network)
• Anonymous_P2P
• data privacy
• identity theft
• penet remailer
• anonymity
• traffic analysis
• anonymous publication
• Onion Routing

An anonymous remailer is a server computer which receives messages with embedded instructions on where to send them next, and which forwards them without revealing where they originally came from. ... A pseudonymous remailer or nym server, as opposed to an anonymous remailer, is an Internet software program designed to allow people to write anonymous messages on Usenet newsgroups and send anonymous email under a pseudonym. ... Tor, an anonymous Internet communication system, is a second generation Onion Routing network that allows people to communicate anonymously. ... An anonymous P2P computer network is a particular type of peer-to-peer network in which the users and their nodes are pseudonymous by default. ... Data privacy refers to the evolving relationship between technology and the legal right to, or public expectation of privacy in the collection and sharing of data. ... Identity theft (or identity fraud) is the deliberate assumption of another persons identity, usually to gain access to their finances or frame them for a crime. ... The Penet remailer (anon. ... Anonymity is the state of not being identifiable within a set, called the anonymity set. ... Traffic analysis is the process of intercepting and examining messages in order to deduce information from patterns in communication. ... In electronic communication, anonymous publication is the act of making publicly available text (eg, articles, reviews, commentary) which cannot be traced to the author unless the text itself identifies (or hints at) the author. ... Onion Routing is a technique for pseudonymous (or anonymous) communication over a computer network, developed by David Goldschlag, Michael Reed, and Paul Syverson. ...

External links

• a remailer FAQ

Further reading

• Email Security, Bruce Schneier (ISBN 047105318X)
• Computer Privacy Handbook, Andre Bacard (ISBN 1566091713)