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Thunderbird Newsreader & Mixmaster for anonymity

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Kulin Remailer

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Jan 21, 2012, 6:33:37 PM1/21/12
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If you have the program Mixmaster installed on Windows, or if you
now decide to download and install it, the setup is not difficult.
Basically, there is one small configuration file, of which many
persons here can help with the settings. The homepage to download
it is here: http://mixmaster.sourceforge.net/faq.shtml. After
installing it, you will also need to install another program to
serve as the Sendmail component. There is a simple enough sendmail
program for Windows available here: http://glob.com.au/sendmail/.
It also contains a one page readme file explaining the simple
config settings, which again are easy enough for most moderately
capable techies. With it too, many of the persons frequenting this
group would be familiar and would gladly give a hand to help get
you set up and going. If you wanted to stop with only these two,
they alone would nicely suffice to allow you to send anonymous
messages over the mixmaster network on the internet. They enable
you to send anonymous mail messages to others and to send anonymous
usenet news messages to groups. You could use pseudonyms to send
messages with them, and the recipients of your messages would not
know, or be able to backtrack, from where the messages had come.
The sendmail program is quite impressive in and of itself, and it
will work with any SMTP server you have locally or want to connect
to over the internet. That's anonymous remailing in a nutshell.

Although this Windows Sendmail program supports encrypted data
communications via TLS and SSL, once you get a taste of doing that
much, if you are like most persons, you will also want to get a
little more sophisticated with the security of your messaging. The
best way to improve on it at that point would be to get Stunnel,
which allows you to have encrypted data connections and
authentication using some of the best and modern protocols
available. It is "top gun" and actively supported by some of the
brightest user base around. Stunnel ties in nicely with these
other two programs, and, again, many of the persons here in this
group can help you with the initial settings needed to configure
them for working together. Sendmail and Stunnel have no problems
connecting when you get them set up right. Stunnel will also allow
you to configure many other programs to use encrypted
communications. It has wide-ranging applications and appeal, and
its settings can get as sophisticated as you might need at some
point with another program in the future.

At the same time, if you haven't already got it, you will probably
want to have a full-featured newsreader and mail program to use as
a frontend with these other programs already securing your backend.
One of the best and smartest choices to make for this purpose
would be Thunderbird. It is an opensource Mozilla application, top
notch, actively developed and it has a reputation for security and
flexibility that is as good as it gets. With Thunderbird you get a
versatile newsreader AND an email client. Even by itself,
Thunderbird natively supports SSL/TLS and tor proxy connections.
It also provides numerous additional capabilities as a result of
the variety of add-ons and plugins made for it. Thunderbird
supports multiple accounts and user profiles, easily communicating
across them from one to the other. You can set it up with some
newsgroup accounts downloading or sending across the tor network
and some not. You can download with one account and then reply
with a different account using a different server and user profile.
They are all simply integrated, multiple servers, multiple users,
multiple protocols and connections, multiple accounts. Thunderbird
has built-in database and password protection too for those who
need extra precautions. Before I forget, I want to mention also
that Thunderbird has a built-in Templates folder functionality.
Once you set up templates, as many as you want, it is a simple
matter of clicking on one to use it for a new message or reply.
Thunderbird is also easy to install and configure, and there are
numerous support groups online, irc, forums, newsgroups, etc.

One of the neatest things about having Thunderbird, together with
Mixmaster and, if you like, with these other security applications,
is that there is an easy way to make them connect and work
together. This program is what you need to do it for you:
https://www.cotse.net/news2remail/. It allows you to use Mixmaster
from Thunderbird. This capability eliminates the need for your
having to use the minimal user-interface of Mixmaster itself.
Instead, you get the full-featured capabilities of Thunderbird as a
seamless frontend. No more minimalism or cludgy cutting and
pasting as you may have needed to settle for.

As its website explains:

"It means being able to reply and post to usenet anonymously from
within your favorite news reader. Reading from your regular news
server while replying and posting through the Mixmaster remailers
without having to copy and paste nor switch to a different
application".

The Cotse news2remail proxy is also easy enough to configure with
just a few settings in the config file and a one page readme file.
Perhaps one of the program's greatest strengths is the ability to
let you add any and all of the headers you may need, saving them as
Templates in Thunderbird works efficiently and conveniently too.
Of course you can make on the fly modifications if need be. Most
anyone here can help you with setting it up as well. Did I
mention yet that Thunderbird has a program add-in component called
Enigmail? That is the gpg supported integration for your
encryption of messages and a key management facility. It does not
get much easier, or stronger, than that. Thunderbird, Enigmail,
Gpg, and Mixmaster, will all run on any version of Windows, (or
Linux if you want to get really ambitious). Do yourself a big
favor. In the long-run you will be damn glad you did. It may take
a little longer in the beginning to get set up, but not much really
and there is plenty of help available here. Afterwards, you can
smile because it is time for smooth sailing and secure computing,
all to your little heart's content. You might even enjoy feeling a
little smug. ;)



Stray Cat

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Jan 21, 2012, 6:48:29 PM1/21/12
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The Sendmail component is not required. You can use the SMTPRELAY
setting in mix.cfg to use any smtp server you have send access to.

Nomen Nescio

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Jan 21, 2012, 8:21:16 PM1/21/12
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> The Sendmail component is not required. You can use the SMTPRELAY
> setting in mix.cfg to use any smtp server you have send access to.

Interesting, never knew this. But will mix send it TLS
snorky.mixmin.net:2525?

Stray Cat

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Jan 21, 2012, 8:35:28 PM1/21/12
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No it will not. Mix is limited to destination port TCP 25 only.

stunnel will be required to do this. Here is a sample entry for
stunnel.conf

[smtps]
accept = 25
connect = snorky.mixmin.net:2525

Nomen Nescio

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Jan 21, 2012, 9:24:59 PM1/21/12
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Nice write up. I would like to use the mix 3 you pointed to but
it seems to need compiling. What would you use to do this? And
are there any written instruction on what to do about the config
file (I assume that it is the micinstall.nsi file)? Sometimes
trying to find help here is like trying to find chicken teeth.


Thanks.



















































































Stray Cat

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Jan 21, 2012, 9:39:44 PM1/21/12
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On Sun, 22 Jan 2012 03:24:59 +0100 (CET), Nomen Nescio
<nob...@dizum.com> wrote:

>Nice write up. I would like to use the mix 3 you pointed to but
>it seems to need compiling. What would you use to do this? And
>are there any written instruction on what to do about the config
>file (I assume that it is the micinstall.nsi file)? Sometimes
>trying to find help here is like trying to find chicken teeth.
>

You can get a copy of mixmaster 3.0.2 compiled for Windows here:

ftp://ftp.quicksilvermail.net/pub/quicksilver/Mix3.0.2.zip

You can probably come up with a reasonable mix.cfg file by reading the
man page:

http://mixmaster.sourceforge.net/manpage.html

Kulin Remailer

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Jan 21, 2012, 9:42:10 PM1/21/12
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In article <e4ab1148c65f6c3f...@dizum.com>
No, but sendmail is not so limited. If you need other ports, it
can do that too, and it has a number of other features you may find
helpful.


Nomen Nescio

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Jan 21, 2012, 9:50:16 PM1/21/12
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In article <4hjmh7tiajoti19ja...@news.stray.cat.edu>
Stray Cat <Stra...@alt.anonymous.messages> wrote:
>
> The Sendmail component is not required. You can use the SMTPRELAY
> setting in mix.cfg to use any smtp server you have send access to.

Of course everyone should keep in mind that not all the "advice"
they will get from well-meaning neophobes is sure to be in their
best interest. It's hard to teach an old dog (or cat) new tricks,
if you know what I mean.

Stray Cat

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Jan 21, 2012, 9:54:30 PM1/21/12
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Blow me.

Kulin Remailer

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Jan 21, 2012, 10:09:31 PM1/21/12
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

In article <93658909847aba8a...@dizum.com>
Nomen Nescio <nob...@dizum.com> wrote:
>
>

> > You might even enjoy feeling a
> > little smug.
>
> Nice write up. I would like to use the mix 3 you pointed to but
> it seems to need compiling. What would you use to do this? And
> are there any written instruction on what to do about the config
> file (I assume that it is the micinstall.nsi file)?

You can get it here also:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/
index.php?file_id=66139715913662715187&gk=money

> Sometimes
> trying to find help here is like trying to find chicken teeth.

Truly I can appreciate that description, being the proud owner of
some fine chickens. ;)
>
> Thanks.

Google is your friend too.

- --
roo...@thechickencoop.net
gallus gallus domesticus
"A happy member of Kingdom Animalia"

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Kulin Remailer

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Jan 22, 2012, 12:17:42 AM1/22/12
to
In article <e4ab1148c65f6c3f...@dizum.com>
Nomen Nescio <nob...@dizum.com> wrote:
>
Good question. Yes, but you need two steps. First, set it to send
to port 25 only, but then you could have stunnel listen for it and
relay the data on that port you want to use:


[mixmaster_to_snorky]
accept = 127.0.0.1:25
connect = 188.40.76.149:2525
protocol = smtp
delay = no


This is just one possible configuration. Others work too.


Message has been deleted

Nomen Nescio

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Jan 22, 2012, 7:19:20 AM1/22/12
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Yes, I have this but can't use it, because it uses the Users
folder. This makes it non-portable and I use mix at libraries on
other computers that block it use.


Nomen Nescio

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Jan 22, 2012, 8:26:25 AM1/22/12
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> On Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:21:16 +0100 (CET), Nomen Nescio
> <nob...@dizum.com> wrote:


> >> The Sendmail component is not required. You can use the SMTPRELAY
> >> setting in mix.cfg to use any smtp server you have send access to.
> >
> > Interesting, never knew this. But will mix send it TLS
> > snorky.mixmin.net:2525?

> No it will not. Mix is limited to destination port TCP 25 only.

> stunnel will be required to do this. Here is a sample entry for
> stunnel.conf

> accept = 25
> connect = snorky.mixmin.net:2525

Can one Stunnel handle two different connections at the same time?

accept = 25
connect = snorky.mixmin.net:2525

-- and --

accept = 127.0.0.1:119
connect = nntp.aioe.org:563

Stray Cat

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Jan 22, 2012, 8:47:46 AM1/22/12
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As many as you want, but you cannot have more than one accept =
statement using the same port number.

Kulin Remailer

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Jan 22, 2012, 11:06:22 AM1/22/12
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In article <3c29f489a9e2f31d...@dizum.com>
You, Luke, can feel the force, I see. Indeed, multiple connections
of such as you described are allowed, even multiple connects with
each of the 'accept' are allowed, and they would be used round
robin, but only one 'accept' per port number.

Here would be one of the ways you could make your mixmaster
configuration (mix.cfg in Windows) file to work with said stunnel:


REMAIL n
SHORTNAME unknown
REMAILERADDR user@unknown
COMPLAINTS user@unknown

NAME
ADDRESS fic...@nowhere.net
SMTPRELAY 127.0.0.1
HELONAME fiction.domain.net
#SENDMAIL c:\Progra~1\Sendmail\sendmail.exe
#SENDMAIL c:\cygwin\usr\sbin\msmtp.exe
#SENDMAIL outfile
VERBOSE 3
ERRLOG errlog.txt

CHAIN *,*,*
NUMCOPIES 3
ENVFROM fic...@unknown.net
ALLPINGERSURL http://drsnoid.cotse.net/allpingers.txt
WGET c:\Progra~1\GnuWin32\bin\wget.exe
--------------------------------------------

This configuration would work assuming you were not going to use
sendmail for SMTP relaying. Mixmaster will utilize port 25 to send
to stunnel by default, and it is not negotiable within Mixmaster
itself. Using the ERRLOG is helpful for recording what occurs, but
keep an eye on its size or discontinue after a while if need be.



Anonymous

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Jan 22, 2012, 12:36:28 PM1/22/12
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This is my first article sent with Thunderbird 9.0.1 and OmniMix 1.9.2
Uno, both portable and set up on my new Window 7 within a few minutes.
I'm curious about the result, please be indulgent if it belies
expectations. Many many thanks for all the information I get from this
group.
.

Kulin Remailer

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Jan 22, 2012, 2:34:24 PM1/22/12
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> ..
>
^^^ Above my posting! Nice though unexpected, as Thunderbird complained:

Sending of message failed: The message could not be posted because
connecting to the news server failed. The server may be unavailable or
is refusing connections. Please verify that your news server settings
are correct and try again, or else contact your network administrator.

The same error message when sending to a test group. And no network
administrator here. What next?



Message has been deleted

Fritz Wuehler

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Jan 23, 2012, 8:31:55 AM1/23/12
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In article <892DNJTE4093...@reece.net.au>
Kulin Remailer <rema...@reece.net.au> wrote:
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> In article <93658909847aba8a...@dizum.com>
> Nomen Nescio <nob...@dizum.com> wrote:
> >
> >
>
> > > You might even enjoy feeling a
> > > little smug.
> >
> > Nice write up. I would like to use the mix 3 you pointed to but
> > it seems to need compiling. What would you use to do this? And
> > are there any written instruction on what to do about the config
> > file (I assume that it is the micinstall.nsi file)?
>
> You can get it here also:
> http://s000.tinyupload.com/
> index.php?file_id=66139715913662715187&gk=money
>
> > Sometimes
> > trying to find help here is like trying to find chicken teeth.
>
> Truly I can appreciate that description, being the proud owner of
> some fine chickens. ;)
>
> > Thanks.
>
> Google is your friend too.

It appears that the latest version (v 4.52) of stunnel for windows
would be available here:

ftp://ftp.stunnel.org/stunnel/

It also has the gpg sig file for verification, and the public key,
according to the readme.txt, can be obtained here:

PGP public key is available at http://mike.mirt.net/pgp.asc

gpg key for michal....@mobi-com.net

DSA key FCD53E9D74C732D1

Anonymous

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Jan 23, 2012, 9:24:32 PM1/23/12
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Obviously a timeout issue with Thunderbird being not patient enough
to wait for task completion. You have to increase birdie's timeout
interval in the config editor, mailnews.tcptimeout. 600 for 10
minutes are adequate, for Tor delivery you need more.

Have phun!

Nomen Nescio

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Jan 25, 2012, 8:23:10 AM1/25/12
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I set it to 1000 (Tor activated meanwhile, which I had liked to have
right from the start) and it works like a charm. Great job, many thanks.
























Anonymous

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Jan 25, 2012, 1:57:28 PM1/25/12
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On 1/23/2012 2:19 AM, Kulin Remailer wrote:
> Misc -> Message -> Transparency = None will get rid of the annoying
> dot " . " at the end of the message.
>
I changed that. Many thanks, great service here! But I wonder why not
both of my messages show that dot.

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