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
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
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.
However, as of September 11, 2024 sending email from Guerilla Mail is once again suspended. Visitors receive the same message "sending mail has been suspended for today", but today continues indefinitely.
References
- ^ 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 (4 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.