Guerrilla Mail

Guerrilla Mail is a free disposable email address service launched in 2006.[1] On November 4, 2020, Guerrilla Mail's hosting provider, OVHCloud, shut down their website, but it has since been reinstated. According to the GuerillaMail Twitter account, no explanation has been provided for the incident and it was due to a "law enforcement request (which they didn't forward to us, and refuse to share details about)".[2] It offers both the ability to send and receive emails temporarily and anonymously. Visitors are automatically assigned a random email address upon visiting the site. Email is kept for one hour before it is deleted. [3]

Uses

Guerrilla Mail can be used on untrustworthy sites or sites that send out large amounts of emails. It can also be used if the user is experimenting with a new site and does not wish to give a real email, i.e. for security in fear of a data breach. [4] In order to avoid potential spam, a user may provide a Guerrilla Mail address instead. [5]

Zainab Munib of AddictiveTips blog wrote, "most users feel uncomfortable in [using their real email] because of the resultant plethora of spam and promotional emails that bombard [their] inbox".[6]

Guerrilla Mail was used by many to try out and review many online services, while safeguarding the user's personal address, as noted by Aditya Kane from the "Devils' Workshop" blog.[7]

When compared to other disposable email services, one of the most distinguishing features of Guerrilla Mail is that it can also be used for sending email, including emails with attachments.[8]

Reception

A year after Edward Snowden's first revelations in June 2013, it was noted that more mainstream internet users were becoming interested in protecting their privacy online and were seeking technologies that hid identity. Guerrilla Mail has been recommended because it does not require any registration or personal information.[9] In September 2014, Heather Somerville, journalist for The Mercury News (formerly San Jose Mercury News), also noted a growing trend for anonymity online and mentioned that "[Guerrilla Mail] has done nearly half of its business in the past year".[10]

Controversy

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.[11] It was alleged in an affidavit that the student accessed Guerrilla Mail through Tor (anonymity network). Additionally, the affidavit mentioned that he was "motivated by a desire to avoid a final exam scheduled to be held on Monday".[12]

In June 2017, it was revealed through court documents[13] that the FBI used a social engineering technique known as phishing to target a Guerrilla Mail user. Thomas Fox-Brewster, journalist for Forbes, noted that the case was unique since 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".[14]

In July 2020, conservative talk show host Michael Savage received an anti-Semitic death threat through the mail service. On July 15, he read the letter aloud on The Savage Nation and pleaded for his audience to help trace who sent the email.

As of November 4, 2020, GuerellaMail stated on Twitter that their site has been taken down by their hosting provider and no reason was provided. [15]

References
  1. Somerville, Heather (2014-09-27). "Tech responds to growing calls for Internet anonymity". The Mercury News. Digital First Media. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  2. @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.
  3. "✉ Guerrilla Mail - Disposable Temporary E-Mail Address". www.guerrillamail.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  4. Gallowau, David. "Get a Free One-Hour Email Address with Guerrilla Mail". Lifehacker. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  5. Stogdill, Christopher. "Guerrilla Mail". Not-so-random musings. Christopher Stogdill. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  6. Munib, Zainab. "Guerrilla Mail: Create & Use Temporary, Anonymous Email Addresses". Addictive Tips. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  7. Kane, Aditya. "EEmail address which is gone in 60 minutes". Devils' Workshop. rtBlog Network. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  8. "GuerrillaMail Review: One Hour Email Service". Blinklist. 4th paragraph. May 29, 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2014.CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. Greenberg, Andy. "How to Anonymize Everything You Do Online". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  10. Somerville, Heather (2014-09-27). "Tech responds to growing calls for Internet anonymity". The Mercury News. Digital First Media. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  11. Staff, CNN (18 December 2013). "Harvard student Eldo Kim charged in final-exam bomb hoax". CNN. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
  12. Fandos, Nicholas P. (December 17, 2013). "Harvard Sophomore Charged in Bomb Threat". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  13. "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.
  14. Fox-Brewster, Thomas (June 13, 2017). "How The FBI Hacked A Dark Web Shopper Plotting A Mail Bomb Hit". Forbes. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  15. @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.
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