The following is the full list of commands which can be used in nym configuration requests to nym.alias.net. If you want your very own list (and a bunch of other junk), you can get the help file from nym.alias.net by sending an email to "help@nym.alias.net" (no subject or message body required). In about 30 seconds, it will hit your mailbox.
To go back to Section IV (the tutorial), just close this window.
+acksend/-acksend
Enable/disable an automatic acknowledgment each time a message is
successfully remailed for your alias through <send@nym.alias.net>.
This configuration option can be overridden on a per-message basis
by a `Nym-Commands:' header in an outgoing mail message.
+signsend/-signsend
Enable/disable automatic PGP signing of any outgoing mail you send
through the remailer. If you disable this, anyone can forge mail
from your nym very easily (particularly since the sendmail program
running on nym.alias.net does not add Received: headers to all
mail). If you have decided to publish the public key of your nym,
however, you will want to sign all outgoing messages with your nym's
public key (that is sign them a second time inside the message--
<send@nym.alias.net> will always reject a message unless it can
strip off a valid signature around the whole thing).
Having a nym.alias.net signature around another signature can
prevent mail readers from verifying the inside signature, so you
should choose the -signsend option if you want to sign all messages
yourself. (See the section on "GENERATING A PGP KEY FOR YOUR NYM"
for a note on the dangers of publishing your nym's PGP key.) This
configuration option can be overridden on a per-message basis by a
`Nym-Commands:' header in an outgoing mail message.
+cryptrecv/-cryptrecv
Enable/disable automatic encryption with your nym's public key of
messages received for your alias. Disabling public-key encryption
will reduce your privacy. However, it may also allow you to decode
received mail with client software designed for the older
alpha.c2.org-style pseudonym servers. Note that even when +cryptrecv
is enabled, you still should use shared-key encryption between
remailer hops to prevent your mail from being traced. See the
section on "SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS" below for more details.
+fixedsize/-fixedsize
When you send the +fixedsize Nym-Command, all messages you receive
will be split and/or padded to exactly the same size (roughly 10K).
This padding will take place outside the public key encryption, and
so will only be useful if you also use shared-key encryption. If you
do used shared-key encryption, however, (and you really should),
having all your messages be the same size will make it significantly
harder for anyone to do traffic analysis on mail to your nym.
+disable/-disable
One of the most effective forms of attack on a pseudonymous remailer
such as this is to flood the system with messages for a particular
destination. Moreover, because this alias software does not know a
message's final destination, it is possible that some joker could
point an alias at itself (maybe even using two reply-blocks to
create exponentially increasing levels of traffic). To protect
against this, if you send or receive more than about 10 Megabytes of
mail in one day, your alias will be disabled and further mail to you
it will bounce. You will receive mail notifying you of the situation
if this happens to you. At this point, you can re-enable your alias
by sending a message with `Nym-Commands: -disable' to
<config@nym.alias.net>.
+fingerkey/-fingerkey
Allow people to obtain your nym's PGP public key by fingering your
E-mail address. The Key ID on your PGP public key must contain your
nym's full E-mail address in angle brackets in order to be given out
through finger. Thus, a Key ID of "Test User
<yournym@nym.alias.net>" would be visible by fingering
yournym@nym.alias.net, but a key ID of just "yournym@nym.alias.net"
would not be. See the section on "GENERATING A PGP KEY FOR YOUR NYM"
below for a discussion of the security implications of publishing
your nym's public key.
name="Your Alias Name"
Typically E-mail `From:' lines contain a user's full name in
addition to his/her E-mail address or account name. To set up a name
to be printed in all your outgoing messages, like this:
From: Your Alias Name <yournym@nym.alias.net>
and to have that full name appear when your nym is fingered, you
should send the corresponding `name=' Nym-Command in a configuration
message. Note that the outer quotes are necessary even if your name
does not contain any white space. If your full name name actually
contains any quote or backslash characters, you must precede them
with a backslash, as in, for instance:
Nym-Commands: name="Billy \"the kid\" Smith"
To delete your full name so that outgoing mail only shows your alias
address and finger shows a full name of '???', send the command
name="".
create/create?
One of these two commands must be given when creating a new alias.
The create command will fail if a nym with the chosen name already
exists. The create? command will create a new nym, but can also
update an existing nym if the configuration message is signed by the
nym's previous private key.
delete
This command deletes your alias and wipes your reply block. As
described above, you should receive PGP-signed mail explicitly
acknowledging the deletion of your alias. An acknowledgment simply
confirming generic "successful execution" of your request does not
indicate that your alias has been deleted. Note the message will not
be PGP-encrypted if you have selected -cryptrecv, but in that case
encryption with the proper shared keys should provide some assurance
of authenticity.
+nobcc/-nobcc
When set to +nobcc, your nym will not receive any blind carbon
copies of mail messages. When you have selected +nobcc, any E-mail
sent to your pseudonym will bounce if it does not display your E-
mail address in a To, Cc, Resent-To, or Resent-Cc header. Aparently-
To headers are ignored for the purpose of the nobcc option--mail
will bounce even if you are listed in an Apparently-To header. While
blind carbon copies can be a legitimate and useful mechanism, most
so-called SPAM messages are sent as blind carbon copies. Thus,
+nobcc may reduce the number of SPAM messages you receive at the
possible expense bouncing some legitimate blind carbon copies. -
nobcc undoes the effect of a previous +nobcc command, and allows the
reception of blind carbon copies again. Note: You will not be able
to subscibe to any mailing lists if you select +nobcc.
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