Politech is the oldest Internet resource devoted to politics and technology. Launched in 1994 by Declan McCullagh, the mailing list has chronicled the growing intersection of law, culture, technology, and politics. Since 2000, so has the Politech web site.

Previous Politech message:
http://www.politechbot.com/2005/12/20/transcript-of-briefing/

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Who is snooping on my email?
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 09:18:30 -0500
From: Richard M. Smith <rms@computerbytesman.com>
To: 'Declan McCullagh' <declan@well.com>

Hello,

With all of the controversy about the news that the NSA has been monitoring,
since 9/11, telephone calls and email messages of Americans, some folks
might
now be wondering if they are being snooped on.  Here's a quick and easy
method to see if one's email messages are being read by someone else.

The steps are:

    1.  Set up a Hotmail account.
    2.  Set up a second email account with a
        non-U.S. provider. (eg. Rediffmail.com)
    3.  Send messages between the two accounts
        which might be interesting to the NSA.
    4.  In each message, include a unique URL
        to a Web server that you have access to its
        server logs.  This URL should only
        be known by you and not linked to from
        any other Web page.  The text of the
        message should encourage an NSA monitor
        to visit the URL.
    5.  If the server log file ever shows this
        URL being accessed, then you know that
        you are being snooped on.  The IP address
        of the access can also provide clues
        about who is doing the snooping.

Besides monitoring the NSA, this same technique can be used if you suspect
your email account password has been stolen or if a family member or
coworker is reading your email on your computer of the sly.

Richard M. Smith
http://www.ComputerBytesMan.com

Posted by Declan McCullagh on Dec 24, 2005 in category privacy

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