ManyMe

Online Dashboard

When you protect your privacy with ManyMe, you never give out your real email address. Instead, you use a FlyBy address which forwards to your real address. If any FlyBy starts getting spam, you just shut it down.

Choose Username

Every ManyMe address starts with your username followed by a period and a unique identifier. The service advises choosing a username that doesn’t reveal your identity.

Password Change Reminder

When you sign up, ManyMe sends you a temporary password in unprotected email, along with a link that puts that password into your browser history. Do like the banner says; change your password immediately.

Recent Messages

Below the big buttons in the dashboard you’ll find a list of recent messages. You can also click an icon at left to see your full history.

Click to Create

The Chrome-only ManyMe browser button reveals whether you already have a FlyBy address for a given site, and can optionally create a new one. Note, though, that you can create FlyBys any time just by making up an identifier. You don’t have to register the address in advance.

Control Strip

When ManyMe forwards a message, it adds a control strip at the top with several options. Click Disable to block all messages using this FlyBy. Click Block to block messages from the current sender using this FlyBy. Or click Lockdown to send messages to this FlyBy from any other sender straight to quarantine.

Details in Dashboard

ManyMe retains metadata about each received message, including a link to any stripped-off attachments, but doesn’t retain the message content.

FlyBy Choices

When you view a FlyBy in the dashboard, you have the same Block, Disable, and Lockdown choices that appear in the control strip. You can also choose to trust the sender; doing so puts a “trusted” notification in the control strip.

Lockdown Quarantine

The Lockdown feature can divert an unauthorized message to quarantine. ManyMe also quarantines messages deemed to be spam or dangerous by Amazon SES (Simple Email Service).

About Our Expert

Neil J. Rubenking

Principal Writer, Security

My Experience

When the IBM PC was new, I served as the president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years. That’s how I met PCMag’s editorial team, who brought me on board in 1986. In the years since that fateful meeting, I’ve become PCMag’s expert on security, privacy, and identity protection, putting antivirus tools, security suites, and all kinds of security software through their paces.

Before my current security gig, I supplied PCMag readers with tips and solutions on using popular applications, operating systems, and programming languages in my "User to User" and "Ask Neil" columns, which began in 1990 and ran for almost 20 years. Along the way, I wrote more than 40 utility articles, as well as Delphi Programming for Dummies and six other books covering DOS, Windows, and programming. I also reviewed thousands of products of all kinds, ranging from early Sierra Online adventure games to AOL’s precursor Q-Link.

In the early 2000s, I turned my focus to security and the growing antivirus industry. After years of working with antivirus, I’m known throughout the security industry as an expert on evaluating antivirus tools. I serve as an advisory board member for the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO), an international nonprofit group dedicated to coordinating and improving testing of anti-malware solutions.

The Technology I Use

Much of the testing I do, particularly testing with real-world ransomware, is just plain dangerous. To perform such tests safely, I sequester them inside virtual machines managed by VMWare Workstation. For cross-platform testing, I use a MacBook Air, a Google Pixel 4, and a 6th-generation iPad.

I rely on my Delphi coding skills to create and maintain small applications. These include programs to check whether an antivirus correctly handled the malware it detected, launch dangerous URLs and record the security program’s reaction, and analyze the malware that I collect for use in testing. I also wrote a tiny browser and text editor for use in testing security apps that have predefined reactions for known products.

I do my writing and research on a Dell OptiPlex desktop, relying on Microsoft Word (my fingers know all the shortcuts). Many of my articles include charts and analysis; Excel is my go-to for those. When work hours end, though, I escape the bounds of Microsoft and Windows. There’s an iPhone in my pocket, I relax with my oversized iPad, and my Kindle Oasis is always loaded with the best science fiction and fantasy.

Read the latest from Neil J. Rubenking

Read full bio