Nym server

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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into pseudonymous remailer. (Discuss)

A nym server (short for pseudonym server) is a server that is designed to provide an untraceable e-mail address (a nym), such that neither the nym server operator nor the operators of the anonymous remailers involved can link a specific nym to the corresponding “real” e-mail address. While one can use a nym server without also using anonymous remailers, the security of each complements the other.

An individual wishing to send and receive email messages anonymously through a nym server must first set up an anonymous address with the server. To set up a nym, the user creates a PGP key pair and submits it to the nym server, along with instructions (called a reply block) to anonymous remailers on how to send a message back to the user's real address. The nym server, using the reply block, responds with a “reply to confirm” message. The user confirms that the reply block is working by sending a response to the address provided in the message from the nym server.

To send a message through the nym server so that the From address is the nym, the user adds a few headers, signs the message with his nym key, encrypts it with the nym server key, and sends the message to the nym server, probably routed through some anonymous remailers. When the nym server gets the message, it decrypts the message and sends it on to the intended recipient, with the From: address being the user's nym.

When the nym server gets a message addressed to the nym, it appends it to the nym's reply block and sends it to the first remailer in the chain, which sends it to the next and so on until it reaches the user's real address. It is considered good practice to include instructions to encrypt it on the way, so that someone (or some organization) doing in/out traffic analysis on the nym server cannot easily match the message received by the user to the one sent by the nym server.