Tails (operating system)
Tails, or The Amnesic Incognito Live System, is a security-focused Debian-based Linux distribution aimed at preserving privacy and anonymity.[5] All its incoming and outgoing connections are forced to go through Tor,[6] and any non-anonymous connections are blocked. The system is designed to be booted as a live DVD or live USB, and will leave no digital footprint on the machine unless explicitly told to do so. The Tor Project has provided financial support for its development in the beginnings of the project.[7] According to the Whonix Project, in comparison with other anonymity-focused software or platforms, "Tails is better suited for high-risk users who face aggressive, targeted surveillance."[8] As of the latest version, Tails comes with Secure Boot.
Tails 4.8 Desktop | |
Developer | The Tails project |
---|---|
OS family | Unix-like |
Working state | Active |
Source model | Open source |
Initial release | June 23, 2009 |
Latest release | 4.8 / June 30, 2020[1] |
Repository | |
Marketing target | Personal computers |
Update method | Tails Upgrader[2] |
Package manager | dpkg |
Platforms | x86-64[3] |
Kernel type | Monolithic |
Userland | GNU |
Default user interface | GNOME 3 |
License | GNU GPLv3[4] |
Preceded by | Incognito |
Official website | tails |
History
Tails was first released on 23 June 2009. It is the next iteration of development on Incognito, a Gentoo-based Linux distribution.[9] The Tor Project has provided financial support for its development in the beginnings of the project.[7] Tails has also received funding from the Open Technology Fund, Mozilla, and the Freedom of the Press Foundation.[10]
Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald, and Barton Gellman have each said that Tails was an important tool they used in their work with National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.[11][12][13]
As of release 3.0, Tails requires a 64-bit processor to run.[14]
Bundled software
- GNOME desktop
Networking
- Tor with: Stream isolation, regular, obfs2, obfs3, obfs4, and ScrambleSuit bridges support.
- NetworkManager for easy network configuration
- Tor Browser, a web browser based on Mozilla Firefox and modified to protect anonymity with:
- Torbutton for anonymity and protection against JavaScript with all cookies treated as session cookies by default;
- HTTPS Everywhere transparently enables SSL-encrypted connections to a great number of major websites
- NoScript to have even more control over JavaScript
- uBlock Origin (formerly Adblock Plus) to remove advertisements.
- Note: Due to the fact that Tails includes uBlock Origin (compared to the normal Tor Browser Bundle), it could be subject to an attack to determine if the user is using Tails (since the userbase for Tails is less than the Tor Browser Bundle) by checking if the website is blocking advertising.[15] Although this can be avoided by disabling uBlock Origin.
- Pidgin preconfigured with OTR for end-to-end encrypted instant messaging
- OnionShare for anonymous File sharing
- Thunderbird email client with Enigmail for OpenPGP support
- Liferea feed aggregator
- Aircrack-ng for Wi-Fi networks auditing
- Electrum, an easy-to-use bitcoin client
Encryption and privacy software
- LUKS and GNOME Disks to install and use encrypted storage devices, e.g. for USB sticks
- GnuPG, the GNU implementation of OpenPGP for e-mail and data encryption and signing
- Monkeysign, a tool for OpenPGP key signing and exchange
- PWGen, a strong random password generator
- Shamir's Secret Sharing using gfshare and ssss
- GNOME virtual keyboard as a countermeasure against hardware keyloggers
- MAT2 to anonymize metadata in files
- KeePassXC password manager
- GtkHash to calculate checksums
- Keyringer, a command line tool to encrypt secrets shared through Git
- Paperkey, a command line tool to back up OpenPGP secret keys on paper
Users can install any other software which is present in Debian GNU/Linux, either through APT (Tails provides three repositories) or dpkg.[16][17]
One may choose among a large number of languages and keyboard layouts when the system is booted.
Persistency
Tails is by design amnesic. It lives in RAM and does not write to any other drive unless strictly specified. However, it is possible to set up an encrypted persistence volume (for example, within the USB Drive where Tails is installed) to save user data. It is also possible to instruct Tails to automatically install some additional software from the persistence drive, to load bookmarks for the Tor Browser, keep GPG keys or to keep configurations data for other applications. It is important to note that the encrypted space could be detected by forensic analysis and is not hidden like in the case of VeraCrypt which offers plausible deniability and therefore should not be distinguishable from random data.[18]
Security
During the shutdown process, Tails will overwrite most of the used RAM to avoid a cold boot attack.[19] An emergency shutdown can be triggered by physically removing the medium where Tails is installed: a watchdog monitors the status of the boot medium, and if removed then the memory erasing process will begin immediately. This should however only be used in an emergency situation because it could break the file system of the persistence volume, if set up.[19][20]
Release history
Legend: Old version Latest version Future release |
Release history | |||
---|---|---|---|
Version[21] | Release date[21] | Notes | |
0.1 | June 20, 2009 |
| |
0.2 | June 23, 2009 | ||
0.3 | November 26, 2009 | ||
0.4 | February 5, 2010 | ||
0.4.1 | February 6, 2010 | ||
0.4.2 | February 7, 2010 |
| |
0.5 | April 30, 2010 | ||
0.6 | October 20, 2010 |
| |
0.6.1 | December 24, 2010 | ||
0.6.2 | January 19, 2011 | ||
0.7 | April 6, 2011 |
| |
0.8, 0.8.1, 0.9, 0.10, 0.10.1, 0.10.2, 0.11, 0.12, 0.12.1, 0.13, 0.14, 0.15, 0.16, 0.17, 0.17.1, 0.17.2, 0.18, 0.19, 0.20, 0.20.1, 0.21, 0.22, 0.22.1, 0.23 | |||
[22] | 1.0April 27, 2014 |
| |
1.0.1, 1.1, 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.3, 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.4, 1.4.1 | |||
[25] | 1.5August 10, 2015 |
| |
1.5.1, 1.6 | |||
[25] | 1.7November 3, 2015 | ||
1.8, 1.8.1, 1.8.2 (last version to fit 2GB flash drive) | |||
[26] | 2.0January 25, 2016 |
| |
2.0.1 | |||
[25] | 2.2March 7, 2016 | ||
2.2.1, 2.3 | |||
[25] | 2.4June 6, 2016 | ||
[28] | 2.5July 31, 2016 | ||
[29] | 2.6September 20, 2016 | ||
[30] | 2.7November 13, 2016 | ||
[31] | 2.7.1November 30, 2016 | ||
[32] | 2.9.1December 14, 2016 | ||
[33] | 2.10January 24, 2017[33] | ||
[34] | 2.11March 7, 2017[34] |
| |
[35] | 2.12April 19, 2017[35] | ||
[36] | 3.0June 13, 2017[36] | ||
[37] | 3.1August 8, 2017[37] | ||
[38] | 3.2October 3, 2017[38] | ||
[39] | 3.3November 14, 2017[39] | ||
[40] | 3.4January 9, 2018[40] |
| |
[41] | 3.5January 23, 2018[41] | ||
[42] | 3.6March 13, 2018[42] |
| |
[43] | 3.7May 9, 2018[43] | ||
[44][45] | 3.8June 26, 2018[46] | ||
[47][48] | 3.9September 5, 2018[48] |
| |
[49] | 3.9.1October 3, 2018[49] |
| |
[51] | 3.10.1October 23, 2018 |
| |
[52] | 4.0October 22, 2019[52] |
| |
[54] | 4.1December 3, 2019[54] | ||
[55] | 4.1.1December 17, 2019[55] | ||
[56] | 4.2January 7, 2020[56] |
| |
[57] | 4.3February 11, 2020[57] |
| |
[58] | 4.6May 5, 2020[58] | ||
[59] | 4.7June 2, 2020[59] | ||
[1] | 4.8June 30, 2020[1] | ||
Version | Release date | Notes |
In mainstream media
On 3 July 2014, German public television channel Das Erste reported that the NSA's XKeyscore surveillance system contains definitions that match persons who search for Tails using a search engine or visit the Tails website. A comment in XKeyscore's source code calls Tails "a comsec mechanism advocated by extremists on extremist forums".[60][61]
On 28 December 2014, Der Spiegel published slides from an internal NSA presentation dating to June 2012 in which the NSA deemed Tails on its own as a "major threat" to its mission, and when used in conjunction with other privacy tools such as OTR, Cspace, RedPhone, and TrueCrypt was ranked as "catastrophic," leading to a "near-total loss/lack of insight to target communications, presence..."[62][63]
On 10 June 2020, Motherboard reported that Facebook in cooperation with FBI used a 0-day vulnerability in Tails built-in video player to track and identify a sexual abuser in social network.[64]
Tails partners
Organizations, companies and individuals that provide financial support to Tails through grants or donations are recognized as "partners",[65] and have included:
- Handshake Foundation
- Open Technology Fund
- DuckDuckGo
- Freedom of the Press Foundation
- ISC Project
- Lush
- I2P
- Tor
See also
References
- "Tails 4.8 is out". June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
- design documentation
- Tails - System requirements
- "Tails 0.11 incognito live system released". The H. April 30, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- Vervloesem, Koen (April 27, 2011). "The Amnesic Incognito Live System: A live CD for anonymity". LWN.net. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- "Anonym im Netz" [Anonymous on the Net]. TecChannel (in German). February 6, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- "Finances". Tails. April 4, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
- "Anonymity Operating System Comparison". www.whonix.org. October 7, 2019. Archived from the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- Gray, James (September 16, 2011). "The Tails Project's The Amnesic Incognito Live System (Tails)". Linux Journal. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- "Tails report for May, 2014". Tails. June 14, 2014.
- Timm, Trevor (April 2, 2014). "Help Support the Little-Known Privacy Tool That Has Been Critical to Journalists Reporting on the NSA". Freedom of the Press Foundation. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
- Finley, Klint (April 14, 2014). "Out in the Open: Inside the Operating System Edward Snowden Used to Evade the NSA". WIRED. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
- Condliffe, Jamie (April 15, 2014). "Try the Super-Secure USB Drive OS That Edward Snowden Insists on Using". Gizmodo. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
- "Tails - Tails 3.0 is out". tails.boum.org. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
- https://tails.boum.org/doc/about/fingerprint/index.en.html
- "APT repository". tails.boum.org. October 7, 2019. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- "Features and included software". tails.boum.org. October 7, 2019. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/persistence/configure/index.en.html
- https://tails.boum.org/contribute/design/memory_erasure/
- https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/shutdown/index.en.html
- Tails Developers (n.d.). "[no title]". Tails. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- Murphy, David (May 1, 2014). "Secure OS Tails Emerges From Beta". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- "Announce: amnesia Live system (initial release)". tor-talk mailing list (Mailing list). 16 August 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
- "version 0.5". Tails. n.d. Archived from the original on June 25, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- Hoffman, Chris (June 9, 2016). "Tails, the anonymity-focused Linux distribution with deep Tor integration, reaches version 2.4". PCWorld. IDG. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- Paul, Ian (January 27, 2016). "The ultra-secure Tails OS beloved by Edward Snowden gets a major upgrade". PCWorld. IDG. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- "Tails 2.4 is out". Tails. June 7, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- "Tails 2.5 is out". August 2, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
- "Tails 2.6 is out". September 21, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
- "Tails 2.7 is out". November 15, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- "Tails 2.7.1 is out". November 30, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- "Tails 2.9.1 is out". December 14, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
- "Tails 2.10 is out". January 24, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- "Tails 2.11 is out". January 6, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
- "Tails 2.12 is out". April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- "Tails 3.0 is out". June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
- "Tails 3.1 is out". August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
- "Tails 3.2 is out". October 3, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
- "Tails 3.3 is out". November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
- "Tails 3.4 is out". January 9, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- "Tails 3.5 is out". January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
- "Tails 3.6 is out". March 13, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
- "Tails 3.7 is out". May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
- "Tails 3.8 is out". June 26, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 770, 2 July 2018
- "Tails 3.8 is out". June 26, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- "Tails - Tails 3.9 is out". tails.boum.org. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- "Tails - Calendar". July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- "Tails - Release notes". tails.boum.org. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- "Tails - Tails 3.9.1 is out". tails.boum.org. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
- "Tails 3.10.1 is out". tails.boum.org. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- "Tails 4.0 is out". tails.boum.org. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- "Tails 4.0 is out". tails.boum.org. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- "Tails 4.1 is out". tails.boum.org. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
- "Tails 4.1.1 is out". tails.boum.org. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
- "Tails 4.2 is out". tails.boum.org. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- "Tails - Calendar". tails.boum.org. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- "Tails 4.6 is out". tails.boum.org. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- "Tails 4.7 is out". June 2, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
- Jacob Appelbaum, A. Gibson, J. Goetz, V. Kabisch, L. Kampf, L. Ryge (July 3, 2014). "NSA targets the privacy-conscious". DasErste.de.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- Bruce Schneier (July 3, 2014). "NSA Targets Privacy Conscious for Surveillance". Schneier on Security.
- SPIEGEL Staff (December 28, 2014). "Prying Eyes: Inside the NSA's War on Internet Security". Der Spiegel. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- "Presentation from the SIGDEV Conference 2012 explaining which encryption protocols and techniques can be attacked and which not" (PDF). Der Spiegel. December 28, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- Franceschi-Bicchierai, Lorenzo (June 10, 2020). "Facebook Helped the FBI Hack a Child Predator". Vice.
- "Tails: Partners". Retrieved June 7, 2019.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Amnesic Incognito Live System. |
- Official website
- Tails at Tor project website
- Tails - Known issues
- Tails at DeepOnion Website
- Tails at DistroWatch