Network News Posting
[ Home ] [ Back] [ Next ]
How to post to Network News anonymously

Introduction 1. Introduction
Tools 2. Tools
Procedures 3. Procedures
Posting 
To News Anonymously 4. Posting To News Anonymously
Anonymity 
Checking Methods 5. Anonymity Checking Methods
Resources 6. Resources

1. Introduction :-
This attempts to be a summary of those basic methods by which you can anonymously communicate with other like minded persons via usenet also known as Network News.

To upload or post files to a newsgroup, you will need access to that newsgroup first. So you'll need a program to read newsgroups, and a program to post to your chosen newsgroup(s), as well as a NNTP server that carries the newsgroup(s) you want to post to.

If your chosen NNTP server is a subscription based pay server then to maintain your anonymity you should: Send a money order (NOT a cheque) by snail-mail to the company, using a false name and address (not illegal unless there is fraudulent intent). Use an anonymous e:mail address to register and receive your news a/c and user/pass.

If your ISP doesn't have a NNTP server, or it has but it doesn't carry the newsgroup you like, or it only gets a few posts for that newsgroup, you can try out a free NNTP servers from the list in the resources section.


2. Tools:-
Some programs to help you complete your news post might be.

Anonymizing Tools: There are many programs available to assist you in remaining anonymous. One such program is SocksCap32 which will allow you to anonymise yourself or sockisfy your connection to network news and other protocols such as irc ftp etc. It is a versatile and valid alternative to using proxy servers directly. Download and install it from here . How to setup Sockscap is to be found in the Socks Basics faq.

News Reading Tools: The news reading functions built into your browser either Internet Explorer or the Netscape Browser work fine, but are not reccommended since they leave a url audit trail. A competent news reader application is Forte Agent, it has a small footprint, can also automatically rejoin large files and its administration is easily managed. Download and install it from here.

News Posting Tools: There are many advanced news posting agents available. Autopost32 is the easiest way to post a large number of binaries to a single newsgroup. Autopost will automatically do all the encoding for you. Using AutoPost32 will when it omits the NNTP Posting host line allow you to post these images with anonymity. It is important you make TEST posts to see which ones omit this particular line as not all do. Autopost is Shareware. Once you have mastered posting to news anonymously you can upgrade to one of the more fully featured news posting programs. You should Download and install it from here.

File Splitting Tools: If the item you are posting is larger than say 3MB then you may want to split it into a number of parts, this anticipates some news servers not receiving all your parts, so the splitting allows for selective reposts. A good program to do this is MasterSplitter which lets you split binaries up. MasterSplitter is a simple to use program that allows you to set the size and number of splitted file parts and will also generate a batch file which can be used to automatically join the parts together again. Download and install it from here. MasterSplitter

Compression Tools: Two programs that allow you to compress or reduce the size of your news post and which both offer basic password protection are:

  • WinZip
  • WinRar
You can download and install WinZip from here WinZip

Encryption Tools: The industry standard for distributed file encryption is PGP. This allows you to encrypt and password protect any files that you post to news. You can download and install PGP from here MIT's pgp distribution.

Encoding Tools:
If you need to encode/decode files or file parts to something other than uue for posting, say one of Mime (Base64) UUD/UUE, XXD/XXE, AtoB/BtoA and Binhex. Then Fastcode32 supports all those formats If you have browsed newsgroups and seen files that contain those weird characters, this means they are encoded. Fastcode32 will decode these files using drag and drop. It will also decode multipart MIME files. You can download Fastcode here Fastcode32


3. Procedures:- Depending on whether your news posting is to be split up and if it is for public or private consumption will determine which procedure(s) to follow.

The procedure options are:
  1. Posting it as it stands offers no privacy i.e. its contents are publicly known.
  2. Posting using Split parts offers no privacy.
  3. Posting using Compression offers simple privacy.
  4. Posting using Encryption offers stronger privacy.
Programs widely used to perform these functions are WinZip, WinRar, and PGP.

So depending upon your desired level of privacy Splitting can be followed by one of the following operations Encryption or Compression, to ensure that your items reach only their intended audience on Network News.

Example file preparation steps:

Step 1. Splitting the file

Split the file with Mastersplitter. Here the split options are custom in the combobox and 100 is typed into the left hand spin edit to size each part as 100 kilobytes and the program will indicate the part count to the right, here its 5 Piece(s). Click the Split button to split the file.

Splitting the file.

If your post is to be publicly available you can simply post all the split parts using Autopost32 to news. Else continue to step 2.

Step 2. Encrypting the parts:

Highlight all the parts, then right click, selecting pgp using the Encrypt option. Choosing conventional encryption you can password protect your post.

Highlight the parts. Encrypting the parts.
The procedure to Compress these parts would be similar except WinZip or WinRar would have been used. Once you have finished these preparatory step(s) your items are now ready to post to news.


4. Posting To News Anonymously:-
Install Autopost and insert it into the Sockscap32 Profile, check it out its pretty easy to use. Run SocksCap32 and select Autopost by clicking on the Sockisfy button

When Autopost is first run the following banner window appears.

Banner Window Just Click the Continue button at this stage.

The resulting screen displays the posting status window.

Posting Status

To set up the details for your news post click on the Settings button. This will display the Settings window where you can enter the details of your news post.

News Post Settings

just use the button to set up your preferred nick and posting details i.e.,
  • Host: Type your news servers address in here. If you plan to post sensitive images, make sure the server you use omits the NNTP-Posting Host Line. many open servers do this. If you are already familiar with a certain news server, then put its address in this box.
  • Username: If you are using an open server, leave it blank. If you are using a server which requires a Username then put it here.
  • Password: If you are using an open server, leave it blank. If you are using a server which requires a Password, then put it here.
  • From: Your chosen nickname
  • Reply To: Your chosen email address
  • Organization: Your chosen Organization
  • Subject Prefix: Your chosen prefix ie normally the Subject
  • Files From Dir: Type your folder path i.e. C:\Autopost\Upload\
  • Newsgroups: alt.binaries.pictures.gardens.
  • Max Bytes: Maximum Bytes per part or article
  • Text Message: An accompanying text message
Clicking the Ok button will start your news post.

The Newsgroups edit box accepts more than one news group separated by a comma, no spaces, also you can copy Agent's groups.dat file to the Autopost32 folder and import the file so you can choose which groups you want to crosspost to.

Also it will help to organize your posts if you create a couple of folders from which you can format and post your articles, suggested names are "Upload" and "Post". Usually under the Autopost folder but this isn't necessary.

  1. Now whenever you intend to use Autopost remember and run it through SocksCap32, when you want to post to usenet anonymously.
  2. Try and choose a proxy from different country from which the server is located.
  3. If your post is a large binary like a movie then split it into manageable sizes, about 250K is a good rule of thumb since mime/base64/uuenecode/quoted encoding methods at the server end all increase the part size by approximately 40%-50%.
  4. If you want to restrict its distribution then consider Encrypting or Compressing the split parts along with using a password.
  5. Lastly do a test post using some attractive countryside scenes or surfing/beach movies. If you are using a pay server you could use an open server first as a precaution this means if your proxy dont work you Fail Safe! Whilst on the pay server you would Fail Open!

WARNING:
Remember always do a test post and read your headers in agent and check that you are anonymous on news prior to posting!!!!!


5. Anonymity Checking Methods:-

Method 1.
Disable the proxy option in your browser and then run your browser through sockscap32. To do this highlight your browser in the "Application Profile" listbox and "Click" the "Run Sockisfied!" button, in SocksCap32 this will launch your browser and is a valid alternative to simple 8080 proxies for browsing the net. Now visit a proxy checking site and if you are anonymous, you should see either the domain name/url or the ip number of the socks here. If so then the socks has nym status, else try again.
Method 2.
When connected to News server open a MS-DOS window and type: netstat -a . If you can see the name of your News reader followed of the IP/Name or your Socks proxy:1080 instead of the IP/Name of your News server:119 (or nntp) the connection is properly being made through Sockscap.
Method 3.
Use a test post. Find a news server that allows posting and do a post in some innocent group for testing, like alt.test , alt.binaries.test or similar. download your message and display it, then check the Headers/Properties and look if it shows your real IP or that of socks proxy. Its usually the last in the list.


6. Resources:-
See the other faqs

  • Network News Providers
  • Network News Readers
  • Network News Agent Setup
  • Network News Posting
  • Network News Downloading

Free News Servers: -
http://freenews.maxbaud.net/
http://tools.rosinstrument .com/proxy/news.htm
http://newssearch.pilum.net/
http://www.wnabb.freeserve.co.uk/

Proxy Lists:
http://tools.rosinstrument.co m/cgi-bin/fp.pl
http://proxys4all.cgi.net/
http://www8.big.or .jp/~000/CyberSyndrome/pl1a.html
http://www.cyberarmy.com/lists/ proxy/

Proxy Checkers
http://checkpoint1.hypermar t.net/index.html
http://www.ren tal-web.com/~azuma/cgi-bin/env.cgi
http://mizuno -labo.cs.inf.shizuoka.ac.jp/~s5087/proxy.html
http://www.all-nettools.com/tool s1.htm
http://allfree.webprovider.c om/proxychk.html
http://www.tamos.com/netres/pr.cgi
http://www.all-nettools.com/

Country Check:
http://www.all-nettools.com/tool s1.htm
http://www.arin.net/whois/
http://www.samspade.org/

Cracks:-

Programs:

Computer Partners Brief explanation of newsgroups and instructions for using Netscape Navigator or Outlook Express for reading newsgroups.

Rules for posting to Usenet Brief introduction to Usenet and appropriate guidelines to follow for posting.

Free Advice on Usenet News An editorial introduction to Usenet.

The Usenet Newbie Project Learn everything about the Usenet in one place. How to access it, how to read posts, explanation of technical terms and acronyms and how to create your own Newsgroups.


Home Back Next