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A Cypherpunk anonymous remailer, also known as a Type I remailer, is a type of anonymous remailer that receives messages encrypted with PGP or GPG, follows predetermined instructions to strip any identifying information and forwards the messages to the desired recipient. [1]
Cypherpunk anonymous remailers are vulnerable to traffic analysis attacks, which take advantage of the predictable order in which messages are sent to recipients. This predictability can potentially reveal the identity of the sender. To address this weakness, Type II and Type III remailers were developed [2]. Prior to the introduction of Mixmaster (Type II) remailers, users attempted to mitigate this issue by sending messages in batches [3] or using multiple remailers in sequence to further obscure the sender's identity.[4]
When Type II remailers came into existence, they built upon the technology of Type I remailers. This made Type I remailers mostly obsolete.[5] However, there are still websites and systems that rely on this general idea of layered encryption and identity obfuscation.[6]
While they are mostly considered obsolete due to the Mixmaster being the most common remailer type,[7] cypherpunk remailers are still applicable in niche applications for those who have no other accessible options. For example, sites that are censored or blocked by governments can use remailers to circumvent the censorship. Cypherpunk remailers require less setup and fewer resources to run, and can therefore be a suitable solution for those with few assets or little time to spare.