Mixminion is the standard implementation of the Type III
anonymous remailer
An anonymous remailer is a server that receives messages with embedded instructions on where to send them next, and that forwards them without revealing where they originally came from. There are cypherpunk anonymous remailers, mixmaster anony ...
protocol. Mixminion can send and receive anonymous
e-mail
Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...
.
Mixminion uses a
mix network architecture to provide strong
anonymity
Anonymity describes situations where the acting person's identity is unknown. Anonymity may be created unintentionally through the loss of identifying information due to the passage of time or a destructive event, or intentionally if a person cho ...
, and prevent eavesdroppers and other attackers from linking senders and recipients.
Volunteers run servers (called "mixes") that receive messages, decrypt them, re-order them, and re-transmit them toward their eventual destination. Every e-mail passes through several mixes so that no single mix can link message senders with recipients.
To send an anonymous message, mixminion breaks it into uniform-sized chunks (also called "packets"), pads the packets to a uniform size, and chooses a path through the mix network for each packet. The software encrypts every packet with the
public keys for each server in its path, one by one. When it is time to transmit a packet, mixminion sends it to the first mix in the path. The first mix decrypts the packet, learns which mix will receive the packet, and relays it. Eventually, the packet arrives at a final (or "exit") mix, which sends it to the chosen recipient. Because no mix sees any more of the path besides the immediately adjacent mixes, they cannot link senders to recipients.
Mixminion supports Single-Use Reply Blocks (or SURBs) to allow anonymous recipients. A SURB encodes a half-path to a recipient, so that each mix in the sequence can unwrap a single layer of the path, and encrypt the message for the recipient. When the message reaches the recipient, the recipient can decode the message and learn which SURB was used to send it; the sender does not know which recipient has received the anonymous message.
The most current version of Mixminion Message Sender is 1.2.7 and was released on 11 February 2009.
On 2 September 2011, a news announcement was made that stated the source was uploaded to
GitHub
GitHub () is a Proprietary software, proprietary developer platform that allows developers to create, store, manage, and share their code. It uses Git to provide distributed version control and GitHub itself provides access control, bug trackin ...
See also
*
Anonymity
Anonymity describes situations where the acting person's identity is unknown. Anonymity may be created unintentionally through the loss of identifying information due to the passage of time or a destructive event, or intentionally if a person cho ...
**
Anonymous P2P
**
Anonymous remailer
An anonymous remailer is a server that receives messages with embedded instructions on where to send them next, and that forwards them without revealing where they originally came from. There are cypherpunk anonymous remailers, mixmaster anony ...
***
Cypherpunk anonymous remailer (Type I)
***
Mixmaster anonymous remailer (Type II)
**
Onion routing
Onion routing is a technique for anonymous communication over a computer network. In an onion network, messages are encapsulated in layers of encryption, analogous to the layers of an onion. The encrypted data is transmitted through a series o ...
***
Tor (anonymity network)
Tor is a free overlay network for enabling anonymous communication. It is built on free and open-source software run by over seven thousand volunteer-operated relays worldwide, as well as by millions of users who route their Internet traf ...
**
Pseudonymous remailer
A pseudonymous remailer or nym server, as opposed to an anonymous remailer, is an Internet software program designed to allow people to write pseudonymous messages on Usenet newsgroups and send pseudonymous email. Unlike purely anonymous remailer ...
(a.k.a. nym servers)
***
Penet remailer
*
Data privacy
Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data ...
*
Traffic analysis
Traffic analysis is the process of intercepting and examining messages in order to deduce information from patterns in communication. It can be performed even when the messages are encrypted. In general, the greater the number of messages observ ...
References
External links
*{{Official website, http://mixminion.net/
Windows GUI Frontend for MixminionApple OSX, Macport File for Mixminion
Network stats
Noreply number of mixminion nodes
Internet Protocol based network software
Anonymity networks
Routing
Network architecture
Mix networks