Guerrilla Mail
Guerrilla Mail is a free disposable email address service launched in 2006. Visitors are automatically assigned a random email address upon visiting the site.
Features[edit]
Guerrilla Mail randomly generates disposable email addresses.[1] Disposable email addresses may be used as a means of spam prevention.[2] They may also be used if the user does not wish to give a real email, for example if they fear a data breach. Emails sent to addresses are kept for one hour before deletion. The site offers some choice of email domain names.[2][3]
History[edit]
Guerrilla Mail was founded in 2006, in Chicago.[4]
Privacy-centered services saw an up-tick in public interest after the global surveillance disclosures beginning in 2013, especially concerning attention brought to materials leaked by Edward Snowden. According to The Mercury News in 2014, "[Guerrilla Mail] has done nearly half of its business in the past year".[4]
In December 2013, a Harvard College sophomore and Quincy House resident Eldo Kim used Guerrilla Mail to send a bomb threat to offices associated with Harvard, including the Harvard University Police Department and The Harvard Crimson, in order to delay a final exam.[5][6][7] It was alleged in an affidavit that the student accessed Guerrilla Mail through Tor, a fact that might've been given away in the IP address present in the email header.[8][9]
In June 2017, it was revealed through court documents that the FBI used a social engineering technique known as phishing to target a Guerrilla Mail user. The case was unique, as it was the "first public example of the feds using a controversial update to a law allowing searches on users of anonymizing tools like Tor".[10][11]
As of November 4, 2020, Guerrilla Mail stated on Twitter that their site had been taken down by their hosting provider, OVHCloud, due to a law enforcement request which OVHCloud refused to provide details about.[12] The site has since been reinstated.
References[edit]
- ^ Greenberg, Andy (17 June 2014). "How to Anonymize Everything You Do Online". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
- ^ a b "How to Avoid Spam—Using Disposable Contact Information". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ "Get a Free One-Hour Email Address with Guerrilla Mail". Lifehacker. 22 October 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ a b Somerville, Heather (27 September 2014). "Tech responds to growing calls for Internet anonymity". The Mercury News. Digital First Media. Archived from the original on 30 April 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
- ^ "Harvard student Eldo Kim charged in final-exam bomb hoax". CNN. 18 December 2013.
- ^ Fandos, Nicholas P. (17 December 2013). "Harvard Sophomore Charged in Bomb Threat". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
- ^ "Harvard student made bomb threats to get out of exam, cops say". www.cbsnews.com. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ "Eldo Kim Charged in Bomb Threat Case, Unlikely To Get Jail Time | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ Brandom, Russell (18 December 2013). "FBI agents tracked Harvard bomb threats despite Tor". The Verge. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ Fox-Brewster, Thomas (13 June 2017). "How The FBI Hacked A Dark Web Shopper Plotting A Mail Bomb Hit". Forbes. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "In The Matter Of The Search Of: The Use Of A Network Investigative Technique For A Computer Accessing Email Account". DocumentCloud. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ @GuerrillaMail (5 November 2020). "It looks like or hosting provider, @OVHcloud, decided to shut down our services. The reason was that they received a law enforcement request (which they didn't forward to us, and refuse to share details about)" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 November 2020 – via Twitter.