Contents of /trunk/Mix/README

Mixmaster version 3 -- anonymous remailer software -- (C) 1999 Anonymizer Inc.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PREVIEW VERSION  ---  WARNING: THIS SOFTWARE IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT!

This program consists of

* a remailer client:

  The remailer client supports sending anonymous mail using Cypherpunk
  and Mixmaster remailers, managing pseudonyms at Newnym nym servers
  and receiving mail anonymously from Cypherpunk remailers. It supports
  OpenPGP encryption (compatible with PGP 2, PGP 5 and GnuPG).

  The client can be used with a menu-based user interface and with
  command line options.

* a remailer:

  The remailer supports the Cypherpunk and Mixmaster message formats.
  It can be integrated with the mail delivery system of Unix-based
  computers or use the POP3 and SMTP protocols for mail transfer.
  Mixmaster includes an automated abuse-handling system.

Please report any problems via the bug and patch trackers at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mixmaster/

[Note: The final release of Mixmaster 3.0 will include the improved
Mixmaster protocol version 3.]


Installation:
------------

Libraries:

  Mixmaster uses the cryptographic library OpenSSL. If you want to use
  the menu-based user interface, you also need the ncurses library. If
  these libraries are not installed on your system, get them from
  ftp://mixmaster.anonymizer.com/ and extract them in the Src
  directory first.

  The Perl Compatable Regular Expressions library can be obtained from
  ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/programming/pcre/

  The zlib compression libraries can be obtained at

To install or upgrade Mixmaster, type `./Install'.

Mixmaster uses lists of currently operating remailers and information
about their reliability. You can get the current remailer lists from
http://www.eskimo.com/~turing/remailer/ and http://anon.efga.org/ and via
finger from nym.alias.net:

  pubring.asc    Type 1 remailer keys
  pubring.mix    Type 2 remailer keys
  rlist.txt      List of reliable type 1 remailers
  mlist.txt      List of reliable type 2 remailers
  type2.list     List of known type 2 remailers (optional)

If you wish to participate in the Remailer Abuse Blocklist, you will need 
to obtain the blocklist file from http://www.paracrypt.com/remailerabuse/ 
and place it in your Mix directory. This may be automated with cron.

For support for multiple RAB services, edit the file Src/config.h manually,
and add additional block files to the existing line, such as:

#define DESTBLOCK "dest.blk rab.blk rab2.blk rab3.blk"

Note that only the first file should the the local block list, as it is the
only file mix will open for writing. Most users will not need to edit 
config.h.


Using the remailer client:
-------------------------

To use the menu-based user interface, simply run `mix'. To send an
anonymous or pseudonymous reply to a message from within your mail or
news reader, you can pipe it to `mix'.

The interactive mode supports sending mail, manages pseudonymous
accounts at nym servers and contains a simple mail reading function.
OpenPGP messages are encrypted and decrypted automatically. It can
also decrypt messages encrypted to ordinary non-anonymous OpenPGP keys
if you use the same passphrase for the nyms as for the OpenPGP key.

In the non-interactive mode, Mixmaster reads a message from a file or
from its standard input. The command line options are described in the
manual page (mix.1).


Mixmaster as a remailer:
-----------------------

The Mixmaster remailer can be installed on any account that can
receive mail. Non-remailer messages will be delivered as usual. If
you have root access, you may want to create a new user (e.g.,
`remailer') and install Mixmaster under that user id.

The Install script provides a simple way to set up the remailer. More
information about configuring Mixmaster can be found in the manual
page. Typically, incoming mail is piped to "mix -RM". In a UUCP
setting, it may be useful to use just "mix -R", and run "mix -S" once
all messages have arrived.

To upgrade from a Mixmaster 2.0.* remailer installation, make a
backup of your keys and configuration files before you run Install.


Installation problems:
---------------------

In case one of the libraries Mixmaster uses is installed incorrectly
on your system, place the library source code (available from
ftp://mixmaster.anonymizer.com) in the Src directory, remove the old
Makefile, run the Install script again and answer `y' when asked
whether to use the source code.

The ncurses library can use termcap and terminfo databases. The
Mixmaster Install script tries to find out whether terminfo is
available. If you get a "Can't open display" error when starting
the Mixmaster menu, run "./configure --enable-termcap; make lib/libncurses.a" 
in the ncurses directory.


Security notes:
--------------

The ciphers and the anonymizing mix-net protocol used in Mixmaster
correspond to the state of the art (see the Security Considerations
section of the Mixmaster Protocol specification for details). However,
no security proofs exist for any practical cryptosystem. It is
unlikely that their security will be broken, but there is no "perfect
security". Software can also contain implementation errors. The
complete Mixmaster source code is available for public review, so that
everyone can verify what the program does, and it is unlikely that
security related errors or secret back doors in the software would go
unnoticed.

No software is secure if run in an insecure environment. For that
reason you must make sure that there is no malicious software (such as
viruses) running on your computer. Deleted files and even passphrases
can in many cases be read from the hard disk if an adversary has
access to the computer. The use of disk encryption programs is
recommended to avoid this risk.

Anonymous messages are secure as long as at least one of the remailers
you use in a chain is honest. You can use up to 20 remailers in a
chain, but reliability and speed decrease with longer chains. Four is
a reasonable number of remailers to use. Many remailer operators sign
their keys. You should verify those signatures with OpenPGP to make
sure that you have the actual remailer keys.

Anonymous keys usually cannot be introduced to the OpenPGP web of
trust without giving up anonymity. For that reason, this client will
use any OpenPGP key found on the key ring, whether it is certified or
not. Your key ring must not contain any invalid keys when used with
this program.

If you want to use a pseudonym, the client will ask you for a
passphrase to protect the nym database. Your passphrase should be
long, and hard to guess. Anyone who gets hold of your nym database and
private keys and can determine the passphrase will be able to
compromise your pseudonymous identities. Note that some operating
systems may store your passphrase on your hard disk in clear.

While a good client passphrase can protect your keys if someone gets
hold of your files, the remailer passphrase offers only casual
protection for the remailer keys. If you install a remailer, the
remailer passphrase must be different from your private passphrases.


Copyright:
---------

Mixmaster may be redistributed and modified under certain conditions.
This software is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF
ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the file COPYRIGHT for
details.

A license is required to use the IDEA(TM) algorithm for commercial
purposes; see the file idea.txt for details.

Mixmaster uses the compression library zlib by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark
Adler, the free ncurses library and the regex library by Philip Hazel.
This product includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young
(eay@cryptsoft.com). This product includes software developed by the
OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit (http://www.OpenSSL.org/).
For some platforms: This product includes software developed by the
University of California, Berkeley and its contributors.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

$Id: README,v 1.3 2001/11/07 01:02:18 rabbi Exp $
1	rabbi	1	Mixmaster version 3 -- anonymous remailer software -- (C) 1999 Anonymizer Inc.
2			------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3
4			PREVIEW VERSION --- WARNING: THIS SOFTWARE IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT!
5
6			This program consists of
7
8			* a remailer client:
9
10			The remailer client supports sending anonymous mail using Cypherpunk
11			and Mixmaster remailers, managing pseudonyms at Newnym nym servers
12			and receiving mail anonymously from Cypherpunk remailers. It supports
13			OpenPGP encryption (compatible with PGP 2, PGP 5 and GnuPG).
14
15			The client can be used with a menu-based user interface and with
16			command line options.
17
18			* a remailer:
19
20			The remailer supports the Cypherpunk and Mixmaster message formats.
21			It can be integrated with the mail delivery system of Unix-based
22			computers or use the POP3 and SMTP protocols for mail transfer.
23			Mixmaster includes an automated abuse-handling system.
24
25	rabbi	10	Please report any problems via the bug and patch trackers at
26			http://sourceforge.net/projects/mixmaster/
27	rabbi	1
28			[Note: The final release of Mixmaster 3.0 will include the improved
29			Mixmaster protocol version 3.]
30
31
32			Installation:
33			------------
34
35			Libraries:
36
37			Mixmaster uses the cryptographic library OpenSSL. If you want to use
38			the menu-based user interface, you also need the ncurses library. If
39			these libraries are not installed on your system, get them from
40			ftp://mixmaster.anonymizer.com/ and extract them in the Src
41			directory first.
42
43			The Perl Compatable Regular Expressions library can be obtained from
44			ftp://ftp.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/software/programming/pcre/
45
46			The zlib compression libraries can be obtained at
47
48			To install or upgrade Mixmaster, type `./Install'.
49
50			Mixmaster uses lists of currently operating remailers and information
51			about their reliability. You can get the current remailer lists from
52	rabbi	16	http://www.eskimo.com/~turing/remailer/ and http://anon.efga.org/ and via
53			finger from nym.alias.net:
54	rabbi	1
55			pubring.asc Type 1 remailer keys
56			pubring.mix Type 2 remailer keys
57			rlist.txt List of reliable type 1 remailers
58			mlist.txt List of reliable type 2 remailers
59			type2.list List of known type 2 remailers (optional)
60
61			If you wish to participate in the Remailer Abuse Blocklist, you will need
62			to obtain the blocklist file from http://www.paracrypt.com/remailerabuse/
63			and place it in your Mix directory. This may be automated with cron.
64
65			For support for multiple RAB services, edit the file Src/config.h manually,
66			and add additional block files to the existing line, such as:
67
68			#define DESTBLOCK "dest.blk rab.blk rab2.blk rab3.blk"
69
70			Note that only the first file should the the local block list, as it is the
71			only file mix will open for writing. Most users will not need to edit
72			config.h.
73
74
75			Using the remailer client:
76			-------------------------
77
78			To use the menu-based user interface, simply run `mix'. To send an
79			anonymous or pseudonymous reply to a message from within your mail or
80			news reader, you can pipe it to `mix'.
81
82			The interactive mode supports sending mail, manages pseudonymous
83			accounts at nym servers and contains a simple mail reading function.
84			OpenPGP messages are encrypted and decrypted automatically. It can
85			also decrypt messages encrypted to ordinary non-anonymous OpenPGP keys
86			if you use the same passphrase for the nyms as for the OpenPGP key.
87
88			In the non-interactive mode, Mixmaster reads a message from a file or
89			from its standard input. The command line options are described in the
90			manual page (mix.1).
91
92
93			Mixmaster as a remailer:
94			-----------------------
95
96			The Mixmaster remailer can be installed on any account that can
97			receive mail. Non-remailer messages will be delivered as usual. If
98			you have root access, you may want to create a new user (e.g.,
99			`remailer') and install Mixmaster under that user id.
100
101			The Install script provides a simple way to set up the remailer. More
102			information about configuring Mixmaster can be found in the manual
103			page. Typically, incoming mail is piped to "mix -RM". In a UUCP
104			setting, it may be useful to use just "mix -R", and run "mix -S" once
105			all messages have arrived.
106
107			To upgrade from a Mixmaster 2.0.* remailer installation, make a
108			backup of your keys and configuration files before you run Install.
109
110
111			Installation problems:
112			---------------------
113
114			In case one of the libraries Mixmaster uses is installed incorrectly
115			on your system, place the library source code (available from
116			ftp://mixmaster.anonymizer.com) in the Src directory, remove the old
117			Makefile, run the Install script again and answer `y' when asked
118			whether to use the source code.
119
120			The ncurses library can use termcap and terminfo databases. The
121			Mixmaster Install script tries to find out whether terminfo is
122			available. If you get a "Can't open display" error when starting
123			the Mixmaster menu, run "./configure --enable-termcap; make lib/libncurses.a"
124			in the ncurses directory.
125
126
127			Security notes:
128			--------------
129
130			The ciphers and the anonymizing mix-net protocol used in Mixmaster
131			correspond to the state of the art (see the Security Considerations
132			section of the Mixmaster Protocol specification for details). However,
133			no security proofs exist for any practical cryptosystem. It is
134			unlikely that their security will be broken, but there is no "perfect
135			security". Software can also contain implementation errors. The
136			complete Mixmaster source code is available for public review, so that
137			everyone can verify what the program does, and it is unlikely that
138			security related errors or secret back doors in the software would go
139			unnoticed.
140
141			No software is secure if run in an insecure environment. For that
142			reason you must make sure that there is no malicious software (such as
143			viruses) running on your computer. Deleted files and even passphrases
144			can in many cases be read from the hard disk if an adversary has
145			access to the computer. The use of disk encryption programs is
146			recommended to avoid this risk.
147
148			Anonymous messages are secure as long as at least one of the remailers
149			you use in a chain is honest. You can use up to 20 remailers in a
150			chain, but reliability and speed decrease with longer chains. Four is
151			a reasonable number of remailers to use. Many remailer operators sign
152			their keys. You should verify those signatures with OpenPGP to make
153			sure that you have the actual remailer keys.
154
155			Anonymous keys usually cannot be introduced to the OpenPGP web of
156			trust without giving up anonymity. For that reason, this client will
157			use any OpenPGP key found on the key ring, whether it is certified or
158			not. Your key ring must not contain any invalid keys when used with
159			this program.
160
161			If you want to use a pseudonym, the client will ask you for a
162			passphrase to protect the nym database. Your passphrase should be
163			long, and hard to guess. Anyone who gets hold of your nym database and
164			private keys and can determine the passphrase will be able to
165			compromise your pseudonymous identities. Note that some operating
166			systems may store your passphrase on your hard disk in clear.
167
168			While a good client passphrase can protect your keys if someone gets
169			hold of your files, the remailer passphrase offers only casual
170			protection for the remailer keys. If you install a remailer, the
171			remailer passphrase must be different from your private passphrases.
172
173
174			Copyright:
175			---------
176
177			Mixmaster may be redistributed and modified under certain conditions.
178			This software is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF
179			ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the file COPYRIGHT for
180			details.
181
182			A license is required to use the IDEA(TM) algorithm for commercial
183			purposes; see the file idea.txt for details.
184
185			Mixmaster uses the compression library zlib by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark
186			Adler, the free ncurses library and the regex library by Philip Hazel.
187			This product includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young
188			(eay@cryptsoft.com). This product includes software developed by the
189			OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit (http://www.OpenSSL.org/).
190			For some platforms: This product includes software developed by the
191			University of California, Berkeley and its contributors.
192
193			All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
194
195	rabbi	16	$Id: README,v 1.3 2001/11/07 01:02:18 rabbi Exp $