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Private Idaho version 2.5b4
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Private Idaho version 2.5b4 (beta) 9/20/95 - Freeware copyright (c)1995, Joel McNamara ([email protected]) What it does ------------ Private Idaho makes private e-mail easier. It simplifies using PGP and various anonymous remailers. You can send e-mail messages with it (if you have access to a SMTP mail server) or you can use it in conjunction with many Windows e-mail applications. PGP is fairly well known. Remailers are getting increased exposure, but are still not widely used. If you use PGP, they are worth knowing and learning about. For a good introduction, refer to: http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~raph/remailer-list.html What it doesn't do ------------------ Private Idaho isn't full featured e-mail software. It doesn't support many options a package like Eudora or Pegasus does (including receiving mail). It is meant to be a simple, easy to use tool for sending secure e-mail. Private Idaho doesn't automatically keep track of which remailers are active. You'll need to manually keep the text file updated to stay current. See the "Updating remailer and USENET info" section below. Private Idaho isn't a "complete" PGP shell. It's designed to make sending private e-mail easier and incorporates the basic PGP features for doing so. Requirements ------------ Microsoft Windows 3.x Visual Basic runtime file (VBRUN300.DLL - not included, most sites such as simtel have this, if you can't find it, try ftp.microsoft.com) A Windows e-mail package (Eudora, MS Mail, Pegasus, etc.) - optional PGP (Pretty Good Privacy - 2.6.2 is the latest MIT version - if you're using the commercial ViaCrypt Windows version, see following section on Using ViaCrypt PGP.) Where to Get It: ---------------- Latest releases of Private Idaho are available from: ftp.eskimo.com /u/j/joelm http://www.eskimo.com/~joelm (plus additional computer privacy info) Mirror sites for the latest release include: http://miso.wwa.com/~dochobbs ftp.empire.net/pub/WINDOWS/Utils ftp.cts.com/pub/jrcffmn ftp.ox.ac.uk/pub/crypto/pgp/pc Installing Private Idaho: ------------------------- Copy the following files to the directory that contains PGP: PIDAHO.EXE the application CPMAILER.TXT remailer list RMINFO.TXT remailer info list RMKEYS.TXT recent remailer PGP keys USENET.TXT list of mail to USENET newsgroup gateways EMAIL.TXT list of e-mail software settings URLS.TXT list of Web URLs WEB.TXT Web browser info PIDAHO.TXT this file PIPGP.PIF for easy shelling to DOS PGP PIPGPX.PIF shell and autoclose (Note: You can copy the files to a separate directory if you wish. I only suggest copying to the PGP directory, because a few users have experienced odd path problems. In any case, be sure the PGPPATH variable is set in AUTOEXEC.BAT, as well the PATH variable points to the PGP directory, and the directory containing Private Idaho if it is installed elsewhere.) Copy the following file to the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory: CMDIALOG.VBX common dialog control IPPORT.VBX TCP/IP control IPPORT.LIC TCP/IP support file (You don't need to replace these files if they already exist). Add PIDAHO.EXE to a Windows program group of your choice. When you run Private Idaho for the first time, it will prompt you for configuration information (to be saved in the PIDAHO.INI file). You will only need to go through this process once. The steps are fairly self-explanatory. PIDAHO.INI is written to the C:\WINDOWS directory. Before running Private Idaho for the first time, have your e-mail software running, with a blank, new message window open. You may need this to provide Private Idaho with configuration information. Updating remailer and USENET info: ---------------------------------- Remailers and USENET mail gateways come and go and vary in reliability. There are three files that come with Private Idaho that contain remailer and USENET information. CPMAILER.TXT contains remailer names with latency and "up-time" statistics. RMINFO.TXT contains remailer names with a description of their features (i.e. supports PGP, cutmarks, etc.). USENET.TXT contains mail to USENET newsgroup gateways. The remailer information is derived from Raph Levien's anonymous remailer "pinging" service. The USENET information comes from Matt Ghio's remailer info service. To make sure you have the most current remailer information, you'll need to manually update the CPMAILER, RMINFO, and USENET files. This simply consists of getting the latest information, and pasting it over the old file contents. You can get the most current remailer information by: finger [email protected] or http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~raph/remailer-list.html or E-mailing [email protected] with the subject: SEND FILE remailer-ping The list updates every 15 minutes at 1, 16, 31, 46 past the hour. You can get the most current USENET gateway information (as well as additional remailer info such as PGP keys) by: E-mailing [email protected] (no subject or text in the message body required) Look at the file contents before you replace it. You should be able to directly copy the information you need and paste it. (The exception is the RMINFO file. You'll need to manually edit the first line, which contains a date for how current the information is.) Installing the remailer PGP public keys: ---------------------------------------- With Private Idaho you can easily send encrypted mail to certain remailers, using their public keys. The ciphertext is decrypted when received, and then sent on to the next destination. The file RMKEYS.TXT contains copies of remailer PGP keys. Use the "Export message" command in Private Idaho's File menu to read the file into the message area. Then use the "Add key from message" command in the PGP menu. All of the keys will be added to your key ring. If you already have some of these keys installed, PGP will skip them and only install new ones. Specifying e-mail information: ------------------------------ If you use an Internet provider that supports sending e-mail through a SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) mail server, the most commonly used type, you can send messages directly from Private Idaho without using another e-mail application. To do so, you need to enter some setup information when Private Idaho is first run. This includes: Your e-mail address - i.e. [email protected] Your real name - i.e. Joel McNamara Your SMTP server name - i.e. mail.eskimo.com You can get these settings from the current e-mail software you are running. These settings can be changed with the Options command in Private Idaho's File menu. NOTE: The POP server information is currently not used, but likely will be in a future release. To use an address book: ----------------------- When Private Idaho is first run, it prompts you if you want to use an address book. This is simply a text file, with each line containing an e-mail address (if you use Eudora, you can use the RCPDBASE.TXT file). These addresses appear in the To: combo list. You can also specify an address file later, by using the Options command in the File menu. If you change the file, you'll need to restart Private Idaho for the names in the address book to appear in the To: line. To use OS/2 delay: ------------------ Another option in the Options dialog box is the "Use OS/2 delay" checkbox. Some versions of OS/2 may run the shelled DOS PGP process and Private Idaho simultaneously, causing errors (for example, PGP isn't through encrypting a file, but Private Idaho decides to display it). If this box is checked, Private Idaho will pause and display a dialog box. When PGP has completed its processing, click the "Resume" button to continue. If you are running OS/2, you may (or may not) need to check this option. If you are running Windows (by itself), make sure this option is not checked. To encrypt a message: --------------------- 1. Enter the e-mail address of the person you want to send the encrypted message to. (Since most people will use their e-mail address as part of their PGP user ID, Private Idaho will search through the public key ring looking for a match. If it finds a match, it will encrypt off of that key. If it can't find a match, user IDs in the public key ring are displayed, and you select one.) 2. Compose the message you want to encrypt in the message box. 3. Choose the "Encrypt message" command from the PGP menu. Private Idaho will create a temporary file containing the message, shell out to PGP and encrypt the file with ASCII armor, copy the encrypted text to the message box, and delete the temporary file with the PGP wipe command (yes, wipe only performs a single pass at overwriting the data before deleting, if you need more security, try a shareware memory resident app called Real Delete). To encrypt and sign a message: ------------------------------ Same as encrypting a message (only you choose the "Encrypt and sign message" command from the PGP menu). To sign a message: ------------------ Same steps as encrypting a message (only you choose the "Clear sign message" command from the PGP menu). This adds your signature to the text contained in the message box. The text is not encrypted. Important Note: Some e-mail packages (notably Eudora), hard code carriage return/line feeds when mail is sent and Word Wrap is turned on. This means if you sign and message, the signature will be invalid when the receiver gets it, because CR/LFs have been added. I've found most e-mail software is pretty smart these days, and will auto- matically wrap lines without CR/LFs. Consider turning Word Wrap off if you have this problem with clear signing. To decrypt a message: --------------------- 1. Paste the encrypted message you received to the message box. 2. Choose the "Decrypt message" command from the PGP menu. You will be prompted for your passphrase. Private Idaho will create a temporary file containing the message, shell out to PGP and decrypt the file, copy the decrypted text to the message box, and delete the temporary file with the PGP wipe command. To import or export a message: ------------------------------ The "Import message" command in the File menu reads a text file from disk into the message box. The "Export message" command saves the contents of the message box to a text file on disk. To use a header or signature (sig) in a message: ------------------------------------------------ You can store frequently used headers and signatures and insert them directly into messages composed with Private Idaho. Headers could be: X-Anon-Password: <whatever> X-Anon-To: <the addressee> Such as those used with the anon.penet.fi remailer. Signatures are text with your name, e-mail address, and other information. Choose the Options command in the Edit menu to enter a header and signature. These are saved to the HEADER.TXT and SIG.TXT files in the Private Idaho directory. Once entered, the header/signature can be inserted into the message text box with the Insert header and/or Insert signature commands in the Edit menu. Note: A header with a password or a signature used in the wrong place can compromise the security of your e-mail. Please use these features carefully. To use "Use multiple keys": --------------------------- This option encrypts your message with multiple keys. When it is checked, a dialog box will prompt you to enter which keys to encrypt the message with. The List button will display a list of keys in your public ring. Use the List button to specify one key at a time. You can also manually enter full or partial user IDs, with each ID separated by a space. Multiple user IDs will be inserted in the To: line. If the creator of the key has followed standard PGP conventions, these will be "mailable" e-mail addresses. To use "Encrypt to self": ------------------------- This option encrypts the message with your own key in addition to the key of the person you are sending the message to. PGP can encrypt a message with a multiple number of keys. This effectively makes the message decipherable by the person you are sending it to and yourself. This feature is handy for archiving encrypted messages you have sent. You will need to provide your secret passphrase in order to decrypt any messages "encrypted to self." To use "Eyes only": ------------------- This option sets a flag in an encrypted message so when it is decrypted, the contents will only be displayed in the DOS box, and not saved to disk. Although there are ways to get around this, the idea is to use this option if you're concerned about someone you send an encrypted message to, leaving the decrypted text file somewhere that could be compromised. If you use Private Idaho and get an "Eyes only" message, decrypted text will not be placed in the message box. After it is displayed in the PGP DOS box, an error message will appear stating a file could not be found and the decryption couldn't take place. This is normal. To use "Conventional encrypt": ------------------------------ When "Conventional encrypt" is checked, Private Idaho instructs PGP to use conventional versus public key encryption on a file or a message. This encryption relies on a single passphrase to encrypt and decrypt the information. To use "Obscurity": ------------------- When PGP encrypts text with ASCII armor on (almost required for sending e-mail), it adds a header that identifies the message as being PGP encrypted. This obviously clues anyone in to the fact that the message is encrypted. There are times when a user might not want a message to be obviously identified as encrypted. When Obscurity is checked, Private Idaho will strip off the identifying PGP text headers when a message is encrypted. It will also add the headers before it calls PGP to decrypt ciphertext in the message text box. Obviously, the sender and receiver of the e-mail are both going to need to be using Private Idaho and know they need to have "obscurity" turned on. To use "File as input": ----------------------- When "File as input" is checked, Private Idaho uses a file versus the contents of the message box as the source to encrypt or decrypt. You'll notice the encrypt/decrypt menu items display "file" instead of "message" when this option is checked. You will be prompted to supply the filename to encrypt/decrypt. File are encrypted with ASCII armor (to allow easy attachment in mail), and tagged with an .ASC extension. The plaintext file is not deleted or wiped after encryption. The file will be encrypted with the key in the To: line. The "Encrypt to self," "Eyes only," and "Obscurity" options are not used, even though they may be checked. This option is useful if you have a message over 32k that is over Private Idaho's maximum message box size. To add a key contained in a message to your public ring: -------------------------------------------------------- If the message box contains someone's PGP public key that they mailed it to you, the "Add key from message" command in the PGP menu will add any key(s) in the message to your public ring and update the PUBKEYS.OUT file. To delete a key: ---------------- You can delete keys from your public key ring. To do so: 1. Choose the "Delete key" command in the PGP menu. 2. Select which public key to delete from the user ID list. PGP will remove this key from your key ring and update the PUBKEYS.OUT file. To insert a public key in your message: --------------------------------------- There are times when you'll likely want to send someone your public key so you can exchange messages. You can easily do this by: 1. Choosing the "Insert key in message" command in the PGP menu. 2. Selecting the public key (from a list of user IDs) you want to insert. This extracts a key from your public key ring, and inserts it at the cursor in the message text box. To update Private Idaho's public key ring information: ------------------------------------------------------ When you first run Private Idaho, it copies information from your public key ring to a text file named PUBKEYS.OUT. If you add or delete keys from PGP or another shell, you need to update the file. To do so: 1. Choose the "Update public key ring" command from the PGP menu. The PUBKEYS.OUT file should always be in the same directory as Private Idaho. You don't need to use this command if you add or delete keys from within Private Idaho. To control the behavior of the PGP DOS box: ------------------------------------------- When encrypting and decrypting, Private Idaho needs to shell out to the DOS version of PGP. You can control the appearance of the DOS box and its behavior with the "Run PGP minimized" and "Auto-close PGP" commands. When "Run PGP minimized" is checked, the iconized window is displayed at the bottom of the screen when PGP is run. When this option is not checked, the full-screen, Windows DOS box is displayed. When "Auto-close PGP" is checked, the PGP DOS box is automatically closed when PGP finishes running. When the option is not checked, you must manually close the window when PGP is done running. These features are useful for viewing PGP diagnostic messages. To set PGP options: ------------------- 1. Choose the "Options..." command from the PGP menu. The PGP path (which is extracted from the PGPPATH environment variable, which you should have set if you followed the PGP installation instructions) is the directory path where the PGP .EXE is located. Your PGP user ID is just that. You can use the entire user ID (i.e. Joel McNamara <[email protected]>) or a portion of it. You are prompted for this when Private Idaho starts. There is also a temporary file name. This is the file Private Idaho uses when encrypting and decrypting text from the clipboard. PIDAHO is the default, and you should leave that setting unless you have any name conflicts (which you shouldn't). Temporary files are written and deleted/wiped from the PGP directory. Do not add a file extension to the temporary name. You can specify a full path for the temp file (i.e. e:\temp\pidaho). This is provided for users who want the additional security of having their temp files written to a RAM disk. If a full path is specified, that directory is used. The "Use ViaCrypt Windows version" should be checked if you are using the commercial release of PGP sold by ViaCrypt. (See the following section.) If you want to use key rings that are located somewhere other than the default PGP directory, you can specify their location in PGP's CONFIG.TXT file. See the PGP documentation for details on this. Using ViaCrypt PGP ------------------ There has been some demand for Private Idaho to work with ViaCrypt's commercial version of PGP for Windows. First a little background. What ViaCrypt has done, is compile PGP in a Windows shell (vpgpqw.exe). Private Idaho normally assumes the user has DOS PGP, and shells out DOS commands through a PIF file. Needless to say, this won't work with the PGP Windows shell. If you use ViaCrypt PGP for Windows, be sure the "Use ViaCrypt Windows version" option is checked in the PGP Options dialog. Unfortunately, Private Idaho doesn't interact as seamlessly with the ViaCrypt Windows version as it does with the more common DOS versions. Some slight functionality is lost, including: You will need to manually create and update the PUBKEYS.OUT text file. The first time you run Private Idaho you will be prompted to use the Notepad (or another editor) to create a file named PUBKEYS.OUT. Save it in the same directory as PGP. Next, the ViaCrypt dialog will appear, and list all of the public keys. Copy everything in this dialog box, starting with the "Key ring: 'i:\pgp26\pubring.pgp'" (or however it appears on your machine) line and ending with the "28 matching keys found." line. For example, the text would look something like this: Key ring: 'i:\pgp26\pubring.pgp' Type bits/keyID Date User ID pub 1024/2627B761 1995/02/26 Bonafide remailer <[email protected]> 28 matching keys found. Save this as PUBKEYS.OUT before you use Private Idaho. Anytime you add new public keys to your key ring, you'll need to go through this process again. The "Update public key ring" command in Private Idaho will walk you through the steps. The other thing is the "Run PGP minimized" and "Auto-close PGP" commands are dimmed out. Since these apply to DOS PIF files, they really don't have an impact on ViaCrypt. Other than that, Private Idaho should be completely functional (this has been tested with version 2.7.1 of ViaCrypt PGP for Windows). Sending mail: ------------- If your Internet provider uses a SMTP mail server, you can send e-mail directly from Private Idaho. Before running Private Idaho, you should have a Winsock connection to your Internet provider. Otherwise, don't run Private Idaho first, then connect to your Internet provider. (You can still use Private Idaho to work off-line though.) To send a message, make sure the proper "to:" mail address is specified and either click the Send button above the message text or use the "Send message" command in the E-mail menu. When mail is sent, the text next to the Send button is updated, showing the mail server communication status. This is the actual SMTP conversation between your computer and the mail server (you don't have to do anything, just watch). Any errors should be displayed on this line. Mail sent directly from Private Idaho is currently limited to the size of the text box (roughly 32K). Attachments are not supported. Server communication can be a little tricky. If you get errors while trying to send a message to your mail server, change the ServerDelay setting in PIDAHO.INI to a longer duration (the default is 2 seconds), and restart Private Idaho. If you use Private Idaho with a non-SMTP mail server or wish to use a full-featured e-mailer, you can use the Transfer commands in the E-mail menu to transfer a composed message back to your primary e-mailer for sending. Note: When Private Idaho is loaded, its TCP/IP custom control issues a WSAStartup call to winsock.dll. Some Winsock stacks (such as Trumpet's TCPMAN) will automatically start when this call is made, other stacks will not. If your stack starts up and supports automatic login, and you frequently use Private Idaho off-line, turn the automatic login option in the stack off. This will prevent the stack from trying to dial your Internet provider when you run Private Idaho. The Winsock stack can be run without being connected to your Internet provider. If you work off-line, you may need to exit the Winsock stack when you finish with Private Idaho (although some stacks, such as TCPMAN, will close automatically after you exit Private Idaho). The above applies to SLIP connections. There have been reports of problems trying to use the Trumpet stack off-line when a PPP connection is specified. I’m planning on resolving the off-line problems in the near future with a maintenance release. To send mail through one anonymous remailer: -------------------------------------------- You have a choice of different types of remailers to use. They include: Cypherpunk - the largest category of remailers. Eric - another type of remailer (i.e. "soda" - csua.berkeley.edu) Anon.penet.fi - Julf's remailer in Finland. Very popular on USENET newsgroups. You need to get a free account before using, which people will be able to reply back to your anonymous mail. I really don't want to get into the differences between the various types or make suggestions on which to use. See: http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~raph/remailer-list.html for some good information sources on remailers. 1. Check which type of remailer to use in the Remailers menu. 2. Compose the message and specify who you want to send the mail to in the To: line. 3. Select a remailer from the Remailer: combo list. 3. Choose the "Append info to message" command from the E-mail menu. The appropriate remailer instructions are added to the contents of the message box. If you are using a SMTP mail server, you can click the Send button or use the "Send message" command in the E-mail menu. If you are using another e-mailer, the "Transfer to other e-mailer" command in the E-mail menu moves the message to your e-mailer. The "Append and Send/Transfer" commands appends and sends/transfers in one menu selection. You'll notice the words "latency" and "up time." Press the "?" button next to the remailer combo box for definitions. This information is useful for deciding which remailer to use. To chain a message (send it through multiple remailers): -------------------------------------------------------- This option currently only works with Cypherpunk-type remailers (although you could chain to anon.penet.fi as your final destination if its address is specified in the To: line). 1. Follow the same steps as above, but choose "chain" from the Remailer: combo list box. 3. Choose the "Append info to message" command from the Transfer menu. 3. A list of remailers is displayed. Select the ones you wish to chain. You can choose the order you wish to chain the remailers. The appropriate remailer instructions are added to the contents of the message box. To encrypt mail and send it through an anonymous mailer: -------------------------------------------------------- 1. Encrypt the message first. 2. Select the appropriate remailer(s) and choose the "Append info to message" command from the E-mail menu. If you don't follow this order, you'll end up encrypting the remailer instructions. The remailers are smart, but not that smart. To use Cypherpunk remailer advanced features: --------------------------------------------- The Cypherpunk remailers offer some advanced features to enhance e-mail privacy. When the "Cypherpunk" option is checked in the Remailers menu, the "Advanced Cypherpunk" cascading menu item is available. By checking one of the options, it filters the remailers in Remailer list box. For example, if you check the "Use latent time" option, only Cypherpunk remailers that support the latent time option will be displayed in the list box. If no options are checked, all Cypherpunk remailers are displayed. Select advanced options, then select which remailers to use. (Each time an option is checked or unchecked, the list is reset, and the default value is "none.") Here is a brief summary of the different features: Encrypt to remailer(s) ---------------------- These remailers have PGP public keys. If you send mail encrypted with their key to them, they will automatically decrypt the mail and pass the decrypted message to the next destination. This is a fairly secure form of communication, since there is no plaintext transmitted to the remailer. When this option is checked, the text in the message box will be encrypted with the selected remailer(s)' key. You must first add the remailer keys to your public key ring. See the installation section at the beginning of this file. You can also chain remailers with this option. Each text block will be encrypted with the appropriate remailer's key. This was a fairly tedious task to do by hand, but Private Idaho completely automates the process. Keep in mind this level of encryption is totally separate from you encrypting a message to an individual. Replace subject --------------- The "Replace subject" option removes the subject on the To: line, and adds a user-selected subject to final mail destination. This is useful if you really don't want someone to guess the contents of the mail by the subject line. A dialog box will prompt you for the subject title. Use latent time --------------- The "Use latent time" option instructs the remailer to delay sending the message after some set period of time. This is useful if you suspect traffic analysis is taking place (watching the flow of messages to and from you). A dialog box will prompt you for the amount of delay. You can either specify a local time for the mail to be sent (in 24 hour clock format). For example, entering 18:00 would instruct the remailer to send the message at 6:00 PM, the local time of the remailer. (Don't add AM or PM.) You can also specify a set number of hours and minutes after the mail is received. For example, entering +10:30, would delay sending the message 10 hours, 30 minutes after it was received by remailer. You can enter values of up to 24 hours. If you are chaining remailers and use the latent time option, the same value will be used for all remailers. A future version will allow you to enter unique time values for each remailer. Use cutmarks ------------ Some e-mail packages automatically attach a signature (sig) to the bottom of each sent message. This obviously reduces the anonymous nature of using a remailer. When the "Use cutmarks" option is checked, the remailer will search for a line beginning with a certain character string. It will remove that line, and all subsequent lines. For example, if you specify the cutmarks to be "--", the line containing "-----------------------" and any lines after it, would be stripped from the message. You specify the cutmarks string in a dialog box. If you are chaining remailers, cutmarks will only be removed from the message received by the first remailer. This is because a message composed in Private Idaho will not have any sigs attached to it. NOTE: Be careful of using cutmarks with encrypted messages. PGP encrypted messages start with "-----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----", so if you used "---" as the cutmark, your message would be removed. Post to USENET -------------- Some remailers can post anonymously to USENET newsgroups. When this option is selected, a list of remailers that support this feature is displayed in the remailer list. Read the next section for how to post anonymous messages to newsgroups. To post anonymously to a USENET newsgroup through a remailer: ------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Enter the name of the newsgroup you want to post to in the To: combo box (i.e. alt.2600). 2. Enter the subject and message. 3. If you are posting through the Anon.penet.fi or Eric remailers, you'll need to make sure the remailer is checked in the Newsgroup menu. If you are using a Cypherpunk remailer, select the "Post to USENET" option in the "Advanced Cypherpunk" cascading menu. (You can also choose the Encrypt and Subject options to further enhance privacy.) 4. Select the remailer you want to send the message through. 5. Choose the "Append info to message" command from the "E-mail" menu. 6. If you'd like to chain your post, select which Cypherpunk style remailers to use and choose "Append info to message" again. To post anonymously to a USENET newsgroup through a gateway: ------------------------------------------------------------ USENET gateways are mail servers that support posting to USENET groups through e-mail messages. To post through a gateway with a Cypherpunk style remailer: 1. Enter the name of the newsgroup you want to post to in the To: combo box (i.e. alt.2600). 2. Enter the subject and message. 3. Select the "E-mail gateway" option in the Newsgroups menu. If you select None, specific information needed to create a newsgroup posting will not be added. 4. Select a remailer (or "chain") from Remailer: combo box. 5. Choose the "Append info to message" command from the "E-mail" menu. IMPORTANT NOTE: Sending an e-mail message to one of the USENET gateways will not anonymize the mail. You must send it through a remailer first. Please test by sending mail to someplace like alt.test before doing it for real. Not all USENET gateways support all newsgroups. You may have to try several to find one that supports the groups you want to post to. To transfer a message to your e-mail software: ---------------------------------------------- 1. Make sure the e-mail software (Eudora, MS Mail, etc.) is running, a blank, new message in the e-mail software is in front, and the cursor is on the To: line. Do not minimize/iconize the e-mail application. 2. In the Private Idaho "E-mail" menu, choose the "Transfer to other e-mailer" command. This transfers the address information and message contents you entered in Private Idaho to your e-mail software. If you don't have the new message window open or the cursor is somewhere other than the To: line, Private Idaho will happily try to paste the data in whatever e-mailer window is active. Changing e-mail transfer settings: ---------------------------------- The Transfer Options command in the E-mail menu contains the settings used to transfer a message from Private Idaho to the e-mail software you are using. This information must be correct for a valid transfer to take place. The information in the dialog is fairly self-explanatory. Make sure your e-mail application is running before you run Private Idaho. You may need to experiment with which window to transfer to. Use your common sense in selecting a window name from the list. If your e-mail application doesn't support sequentially tabbing through headers (such as Free Agent or Netscape), you'll need to write a simple script to transfer the message information. The script language has the following commands: to - to: header line from - from: header line subject - subject: header line cc - cc: header line bcc - bcc: header line msg - text in the message window t - Tab sh - Shift+Tab e - Enter Each of the commands instructs Private Idaho what information or key should be sent to the e-mail application. (Header lines are automatically sent with a following Tab.) Each command (with the exception of the last command), should be followed by a comma. Run your e-mail application and list the key sequences required to transfer the information. (Remember, the cursor should always start on the first line/item of the new message window.) For example, if you were using Free Agent, the following script would correctly transfer your e-mail from Private Idaho: to,subject,t,t,t,t,t,t,t,t,msg This file provides information on Private Idaho's support of Community ConneXion's (c2.org) anonymous, return mail address service. This is preliminary documentation released with the beta version. Expanded information will appear in a revision of the Private Idaho online and text documentation files. What is a nym? -------------- Nym is simply another term for an alias or pseudonym. Community ConneXion (http://www.c2.org) is a privacy-oriented Internet provider that is currently offering a no-charge service that allows you to create a nym account (where e-mail can securely be forwarded to you). This is similar to setting up an anon.penet.fi account, only much more secure. Instead of using a data base of users associated with account names (like penet.fi), the service works by rerouting through remailers and conventionally encrypting messages forwarded to you with PGP. Briefly, you supply the nym server with a chain of remailers (PGP encrypted being the most secure), you'd like to use to have any messages forwarded to you. You also provide a nym account name and a PGP passphrase to encrypt the forwarded message. For example, if you selected "casper" as a nym, you could send anonymous e-mail or post anonymously to a USENET newsgroup and have people reply to [email protected]. When someone sends a message to that address, it is PGP encrypted, then sent through a series of remailers you specified. It is eventually forwarded to you through the remailers. You'd then use Private Idaho to decrypt the message. Once you have an account, you can also send mail or post articles from [email protected]. In such cases, your nym account name would appear in the From: line of the message/article. Creating a nym account: ----------------------- Creating a nym account was a bit complex, but Private Idaho has simplified the process. Just select "Create alpha.c2.org nym" from the Nym menu and follow the instructions in the dialog boxes. Before starting, make sure you have a copy of the nym server key in your public ring. Here's the key (you can use Private Idaho to insert it). It’s also provided in the RMKEYS.TXT file. -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6 mQCNAi7K8rQAAAEEAMiK09Nd+NfaL4Q14bKT0Ivdj3MdbCjAG6Cs5ULYBS1ZWSLA KiHsm0+kPNHqBVOufN7FT2iK0Mbuyk+dZgHG6ScicDkImysRkmso7eh5c9mU9V8K M0+ImKJyOwgVLEgyRK5e4h2XHpwSTtpx3zZpk4CsexLGCQNXF+ikm236U0rNAAUR tCpQc2V1ZG9ueW1vdXMgUmVtYWlsZXIgPGFsaWFzQGFscGhhLmMyLm9yZz4= =xmQf -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Private Idaho will step you through the entire account request process, and when you're through, you can send the message to [email protected]. If you were successful, you'll receive an encrypted confirmation message back. After you receive confirmation, send mail to your new nym account to test it. Remember, response time may vary. Changing your nym password: --------------------------- You can change your nym account password with this menu item. The command pastes a template in the message window. Simply enter your current password and a new password in the message. Encrypt the message and send to [email protected]. If you don't provide a value for New-Password, the account will be deleted. You can also change mail routing with this command. First specify the remailer routing (put your e-mail address on the To: line, select a chain of remailers, and use the "Append info to message" menu item), then select Change nym password to append the password change information to the routing message. Preparing nym message: ---------------------- To send a message through [email protected], first compose your message in Private Idaho's message window. If you are sending e-mail, put the address on the To: line. If you are posting to a newsgroup, enter the USENET gateway on the To: line. Select the "Prepare nym message" item from the Nym menu. Now fill in your nym password and the Subject: lines. Select the "Encrypt nym message" menu item and send the message. Encrypting the nym message: --------------------------- All messages sent to [email protected] must be encrypted with the nym server key. Any plaintext messages will not be processed and be deleted. As a reminder, whenever you prepare a message to send to the nym server, Private Idaho displays a red encryption reminder above the message window. After you encrypt the message, the message disappears (you can also click on the reminder message to make it disappear). Nym Notes: ---------- Private Idaho stores the nym and expanded nym of the last nym account created in the PIDAHO.INI file. The password is not stored for security reasons. Your nym passphrase should be different than your everyday PGP passphrase. You are compromising your security if they are the same. Make sure the nym passphrase does not have any spaces in it. The server will truncate the passphrase at the space. If you have questions/comments about the Private Idaho interface to [email protected] send e-mail to [email protected]. If you have comments or questions about the nym server, send e-mail to [email protected]. You can get additional information about the nym server by sending mail to [email protected]. To access a Web browser: ------------------------ One of the main purposes of Private Idaho is to provide an easy environment that encourages people to use PGP and remailers with their e-mail. The more people that use these tools, the less likely it is governments will be able to take them away. The Worldwide Web is becoming an increasingly important means of distributing information around the world. There are a number of free, important electronic information sources and services that reside on the Web. If you use a Web browser, Private Idaho can interact with your browser to provide links to sources where you can access tools and information to increase your electronic privacy. Using the Web menu: ------------------- The Web menu comes with a series of menu items I feel are important if you use Private Idaho. Each menu item corresponds to a Web link (or technically a URL - universal resource locator). When you select the menu item, Private Idaho will load (if necessary) and activate your Web browser. It will then pass commands on to your browser to go to that particular URL. Private Idaho's default settings assume you use Netscape as a browser (located in c:/netscape/netscape.exe). If you don't use Netscape, or if you do and it is located in a different path, see the "Configuring Private Idaho for your Web browser" section below. Obviously, you must be connected to the Internet for a browser to display a Web page. If your browser is not running, Private Idaho will inform you and then load it. Once the browser is running, select the menu item again, so the information will be passed on the the browser. Default menu items: ------------------- Here are the default menu items that come with Private Idaho. I encourage you to spend some time exploring them, particularly the sites for the EFF, EPIC, and CPSR organizations. They contain a wealth of information on cryptography, privacy, and government issues. Get the latest PGP (US residents) - accesses MIT's PGP distribution page. You must be a US resident to download PGP from this source. Get the latest PGP (rest of world) - accesses a page of links with sites outside of the US where PGP can be downloaded. Access the MIT key server - accesses a page where you can store your PGP public key in a database as well as search for other people's. This is a free central database that get's global use. Read the official PGP FAQ - accesses the official PGP Frequently Asked Question list. Most of your questions can be answered here. Get the short PGP FAQ - accesses a shorter version of the PGP FAQ, with information on the latest version, where to get PGP, and different types of shells to use. Learn about crypto and privacy - accesses the privacy and cryptography section of the WWW Virtual Library. Excellent information on PGP, crypto, and electronic privacy issues. Browse alt.security.pgp - accesses the USENET alt.security.pgp newsgroup. This is the place for breaking information, answers to easy and hard questions, and interesting political discussion. Help Phil Zimmermann - Phil Zimmermann, the creator of PGP, is under investigation by the US government because of PGP. This page tells how you can help Phil with his legal situation. Get remailer information - accesses remailer information you can use to update the RMINFO and CPMAILER files Private Idaho uses. Also provides links to other remailer information sources. Go to EFF - accesses the Electronic Frontier Foundation's home page. An excellent source of information on electronic privacy issues. Go to EPIC - accesses the Electronic Privacy Information Center's home page. An excellent source of information on electronic privacy issues. Go to CPSR - accesses the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility home page. An excellent source of information on electronic privacy issues. Get the latest Private Idaho - accesses the central page for Private Idaho distribution. You can check for any updates and download them. Send feedback... - uses your browser to send mail to the author of Private Idaho. You can also add your own menu items and links. See the "Adding your own links to the Web menu" section below. Configuring Private Idaho for your Web browser: ----------------------------------------------- As previously stated, Private Idaho's default Web browser configuration is Netscape. To configure to your own browser, choose the Options command from the Web menu. This dialog box may look complex, but really isn't. First, a little background on what happens when you select a menu item from the Web menu. Private Idaho interacts with a browser by sending a key sequence to it, much in the same way it works when you transfer information to your e-mail software. While some browsers like Netscape support DDE, I wanted to provide more flexibility for use with other browsers that didn't. When you select a menu item, it looks to see if the browser is running by seeing if a window exists in the Windows task list. (If the browser isn't running, it will attempt to load it, and ask you to select the menu item again after the browser has loaded.) If a window is present, it sends a series of keys that tells the browser to provide some form of input for specifying a URL. For example in Netscape, the CTRL+L key opens a dialog box for a URL to be entered. Next, Private Idaho sends the actual URL that corresponds to the menu item to the browser, plus a key sequence that tells it to go to the URL (in Netscape's case, the return/enter key). With that in mind, here's information on the parameters in the Web Options dialog box. Web browser path - Enter the full path of the Web browser you use, for example, c:/netscape/netscape.exe (which is the default). Browser window search string - This is the name of the window that Private Idaho will pass the key sequences to. Depending on the browser, you can just put its name here. (HINT: Run the browser then select the Options command in Private Idaho's Transfer menu to get a list of all of the current window names. Use the name that corresponds to the browser.) Here's where things can get a little tricky. Some browsers (such as Netscape) use a parent window and a child window. If you specify the parent window (named "Netscape") to pass the key sequences to, nothing will happen. This is because the child window (that's name contains the current URL) is active, and receives any key messages. The problem with browsers like this, is the window name constantly changes, so you never know which window to send the key sequence to. The solution is to look for a command pattern that all child window names have. In Netscape's case, child windows names always start with "Netscape - [", so if you specify this as the Browser window search string, Private Idaho will always be able to activate the correct window. You may need to do some experimenting with this, to find the correct search string to use. The window list in the Transfer Options dialog can help. Key sequence to prompt for URL - This is a series of keyboard commands within the browser that allows the user to enter a URL. For example, typing CTRL+L in Netscape brings up a URL dialog box. You will need to enter the key sequence that is appropriate for your browser. Certain keys must use special characters. For the Ctrl key use a ^ For the Alt key use a % For a tab use {TAB} For a return/enter use ~ For the Shift key use a + For keys to be held down at the same time, enclose then with ( ) For example: In Netscape a CTRL+L opens the URL dialog box so you'd enter ^l Key sequence to get URL - This is the key sequence that will tell the browser to go to the URL. In Netscape, pressing the return/enter key after the URL has been entered closes the dialog box and goes to the URL. So, for this parameter you would use a ~ (The corresponding special keys shown above also apply to this parameter.) All parameters are written to the PIDAHO.INI file when you click the OK button. Adding your own links to the Web menu: -------------------------------------- All items that appear in the Web menu are stored in the URLS.TXT file. You can add to or modify the contents of the file with any text editor, following these rules: Each line represents a menu item. (UNIX folks, this is a DOS CR/LF terminated line.) A line containing a "-" is an unselectable menu divider. The menu item name is followed by a comma (,) and then the URL, for example: Get the latest Private Idaho,http://www.eskimo.com/~joelm Don't use multiple commas in a menu item name, as Private Idaho parses the URL after the first comma. To save Private Idaho settings: ------------------------------- The Save Settings command in the File menu writes all of your current settings (such as remailer type, whether to minimize PGP, encrypt to self, latent time setting, etc.) to the PIDAHO.INI file. These settings will be "remembered" the next time you run Private Idaho, with the various options activated. Adding your own e-mail software specifications: ----------------------------------------------- The EMAIL.TXT file contains specifications for a variety of e-mail packages. Up to 12 e-mail apps will be displayed in the dialog box when you choose Options from the Transfer menu. The file is a text file, with each line representing e-mail information. The file format is simple. A record consists of: line 1 - the name of the app to appear on the button (i.e. MS Mail) line 2 - the program name as it appears when you ALT+TAB (Microsoft Mail) line 3 - the first header in a new message (i.e. To:) line 4 - the second header in a new message (i.e. CC:) line 5 - the third header in a new message (i.e. Subject:) line 6 - the fourth header in a new message (if nothing, leave blank) line 7 - the fifth header in a new message (if nothing, leave blank) Line 8 - the sixth header in a new message (if nothing, leave blank) Private Idaho reads 8 lines in at a time and associates it with a button. When you press the button, the information is added to the header section. To send feedback: ----------------- Choose the "Send feedback" command from the Help menu. Text in the message box will be erased, and a new message will be addressed to me, ready for your comments. Other stuff ------------- Practical limitation of text in the message box, approximately 32K. Total anonymous mailers to list for chaining, 30. The name Private Idaho comes from a catchy B-52s song. No deep social meaning, just had a nice ring to it. Thanks to John Deters for the NT fix, John Coffman for help with AOL settings and distribution and a mirror site, M.D. Hobbs, Ned Brickley, and Paul Leyland for a mirror sites, Robert Fries for "help-fying" this text, and everyone that's taken the time to send me comments. Cypherpunks write code... Command summary ----------------- File Import message - reads a text file into the message area Export message - saves the contents of the message area to a text file Save settings - saves program settings, which are restored on running Options - sets e-mail and other information Exit - just what it sounds like Edit Cut - standard Copy - standard Paste - standard Clear all - clears headers and message box Clear message - clears any text in the message box Copy message - copies any text in the message box to the Clipboard Paste messages - pastes Clipboard text to the message box Insert header - inserts a predefined header in the message Insert signature - inserts a predefined signature in the message Options - sets header and signature PGP Encrypt message - encrypts text in the message box Encrypt and sign message - encrypts and signs text in the message box Clear sign message - attaches a signature to text in the message box Decrypt message - decrypts PGP ciphertext in the message box Use multiple keys - encrypts message with multiple keys instead of To: Encrypt to self - also encrypts with your key for archiving Eyes only - only allows DOS box display Conventional encrypt - uses single versus public key encryption Obscurity - adds and deletes PGP headers from ciphertext File as input - uses a file as encrypt/decrypt source Update public key ring - updates PI's key ring file Add key from message - adds any keys in the message box to public ring Delete key - deletes a selected key from the public ring Insert key in message - inserts a selected public key in the message Run PGP minimized - keeps the PGP DOS box minimized Auto-close PGP - automatically closes the PGP DOS box window Options - sets PGP path, your user ID, and temp file Remailers Cypherpunk - displays Cypherpunk-style remailers Eric - displays Eric-style remailers Anon.penet.fi - displays Penet-style remailers Advanced Cypherpunk - more Cypherpunk-remailer options Encrypt to remailer(s) - encrypts message with remailer PGP key Replace subject - uses a different subject line Use latent time - delays sending the message Use cutmarks - removes specified signature lines Post to USENET - displays remailers that can post to newsgroups Newsgroups None - if you're not posting to a USENET newsgroup E-mail gateway - displays e-mail gateways to newsgroups Eric - fills in information for posting through Eric remailers Anon.penent.fi - fills in information for posting through Penet E-mail Send message - sends the message through a SMTP mail server Append info to message - adds remailer info to message Append and send - adds remailer info and sends Transfer to other e-mailer - transfers the message to an e-mailer Append and transfer - adds remailer info and transfers Transfer options - options for specifying e-mailer Nym Create alpha.c2.org nym... - steps you through creating a nym account Change nym password - provides a template for nym passowrd changing Prepare nym message - prepares a message for sending through the server Encrypt nym message - encrypts (mandatory) a message sent to the server Web Options - sets Web browser parameters Help About... - brief info Information... - displays the help file Send feedback - prepares a feedback message to send