Guerrilla Mail is a free

disposable email address Disposable email addressing, also known as DEA, dark mail or masked email, refers to an approach that involves using a unique email address for each contact or entity, or using it for a limited number of times or uses. The benefit is that if the e ...

service launched in 2006. Visitors are automatically assigned a random email address upon visiting the site.

Features

Guerrilla Mail randomly generates disposable email addresses. Disposable email addresses may be used as a means of spam prevention. 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.

History

Guerrilla Mail was founded in 2006, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. 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 Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs. Born in 1983 in Elizabeth ...

. According to ''

The Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'' in 2014, " uerrilla Mailhas done nearly half of its business in the past year". In December 2013, a

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

sophomore and Quincy House resident Eldo Kim used Guerrilla Mail to send a bomb threat to offices associated with

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, including the

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Police Department and ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...

'', in order to delay a final exam. It was alleged in an affidavit that the student accessed Guerrilla Mail through

Tor Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Toronto, Canada ** Toronto Raptors * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor ...

, a fact that might've been given away in the

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...

present in the email header. In June 2017, it was revealed through court documents that the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

used a social engineering technique known as

phishing Phishing is a form of social engineering and a scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as viruses, worms, adware, or ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticate ...

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". 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. However, as of August 20, 2023 sending email from Guerrilla Mail has once again been suspended. On an X social media post on the same date, Guerrilla Mail announced "We're back online! However, the sending of outgoing emails has been suspended until further notice."

References

{{Reflist

External links

GuerrillaMail.com
Internet properties established in 2006 2006 establishments in Illinois Open source projects Free software webmail