Unmasking Anonymous Email Senders

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday March 8, 2011 @07:46AM from the i-see-you-over-there dept.

alphadogg writes "Just because you send an email anonymously doesn't mean people can't figure out who you are anymore. A new technique developed by researchers at Concordia University in Quebec could be used to unmask would-be anonymous emailers by sniffing out patterns in their writing style from use of all lowercase letters to common typos. Their research, published in the journal Digital Investigation, describes techniques that could be used to serve up evidence in court, giving law enforcement more detailed information than a simple IP address can produce."

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For the lulz by burnit999 · 2011-03-08 07:51 · Score: 4, Insightful

Sooo... if I want to write an anonymous letter I just switch from my usual grammar natzi mode to my OMFG i c4/Vz p0ns0r your org MANNNN!
E E Cummings, that blatant spammer by SMoynihan · 2011-03-08 07:52 · Score: 4, Insightful

Turns out most spam is written by e e cummings.
Who'd have thought it?
Re:Pretty print it first by Anonymous Coward · 2011-03-08 07:54 · Score: 5, Insightful

They seriously think an 80% success rate is good enough to be used in court?
I'm betting the real reason is so they can go to a judge with their pseudo-evidence to get a warrant for more invasive spying.