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This is not just another fake
message off a humor list-this is the real deal.
Your PC cannot explode after it
has communicated a secret message but emails
certainly can. That's what we are going to look
into: sender controlled, time-bombed emails that
self-destruct after x number of seconds. Rumors
are that the next version of Windows a.k.a.
Longhorn will restrict print, copy and forward
features for documents and emails. But most of
us can't wait for its release.
So, let's start. Log on to Self
Destructing Email
www.self-destructing-email.com and
you will be exposed to email features like never
before. Registration is fairy simple and once
done, all you have to do is add
.self-destructing-email.com. For example, If you
want to send an email to 'target@domain.com',
this would become
'target@domain.com.self-destructing-email.com'.
Don't worry, your target won't see this added
tail. By adding this tail, you are actually
changing the domain address of the email. The
actual domain behaves as a catch-all part of
self-destructing-email.com. After your mail is
received at this domain, the actual email
addresses is parsed and the mail is forwarded to
it. You don't have to use a service provider's
website to send emails with this unique
feature-you can use any email client (ex:
Outlook) to send self-destructing mails by
adding the required service domain.
At this point you will ask
yourself: If all our emails (and our email
address) go through this service does it mean
that they can read our messages or use the
addresses to spam? This is what website says:
'Your email address is completely safe with
us-we never send, allow or support 'spam' or
unsolicited email of any kind-nor do we publish
anything on lists... and your email address will
not be added to any "lists"-ever!' Your best bet
is to believe this is the case.
The carious features associated
with this email service can be used through a
free plug-in for Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook or a
generic plug-in to work with common email
clients. You can time your messages destruction
which is set to 60 seconds by default.
Another exciting feature of this
service is that you can track messages using its
uncanny methodologies namely, gopher, frames,
global identifiers, style tracking, embed
tracking and script tracking. Logging at the
homepage takes you to a Personal Tracking Page
that lists sent emails along with their status.
Tracking is pretty detailed-it includes, date
and time of mail accessed, geographical
location, recipient's IP and email address,
third party source (ex: checked through Hotmail
/ Yahoo), URLs (if you placed some), number of
times the email was opened and whether your
email was forwarded. You can receive tracking
notifications via email, SMS, pager, IMs (ICQ,
AOL, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber) and IRC. If you are
interested in record keeping or databasing your
history, you can obtain CSV and TXT files. If
your target deletes or blocks your emails, the
tracking option doesn't work. If you decide to
'undo' sending an email (on the Internet
Exchange Server), you can use the Retract
option.
Another free self-destructing
email service is SpamGourmet
www.spamgourmet.com.
This Service introduces the self-destructing
features to email addresses rather than to
emails. Imagine filling out an online form that
requires you to enter a working email address so
that they could send you confirmation link,
password, PIN code etcetera in order to complete
registration.
What if you were given a chance
to instantly invent an email address, receive
the confirmation mail on it, and then that
address would no longer exist! Even if the
registration site was harvesting email address
through online forms, it would be of no use as
they would get their spam back as undelivered
mail. And yes, even if you forget your
confirmation password or reset it after a few
weeks, you could re-invent the same address once
again, receive the new password, and then that
dress would no longer exist! Sounds magic? This
is possible using SpamGourmet which lets you
create disposable addresses. The service claims
over 62,000 accounts serving 0.7 million
disposable addresses.
Here's how it works. Registration
starts at the home page and requires minimum
information-just a user name and a password. You
hen have to specify a forwarding email address
and you are done. From now on, whenever you want
to create a throw-away address, use this scheme:
some-text.X.username@spamgourmet.com.
'Some-text' could be a descriptive narration of
person or site to whom you are giving out this
disposable address (ex: forABCHosting). 'X' is
the number of emails this address should receive
(after which the address is not valid) and
'username' is the alias with which you have
registered yourself. So, if you come across an
attractive looking offer at a shopping display
which asks you to give your email address for
'more information' you know you can always
devise something like 'shop.2.username@spamgourmet.com'.
Whenever you receive an email from this address,
the 'shop' part will remind you for whom you has
invented this address (although the contents of
email might do so), '2' means that this email
address will work only twice (i.e. you are
controlling how many promotion emails can be
sent to you by that shopping enterprise), and
'username' is self explanatory.
Lets hope we can exercise more
control over our own email address and not allow
anyone else to own it.
Written by Nabeel Khalid |
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