tails 1.4 polishes up the privacy-obsessed linux os trusted by edward snowden | pcworld

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Tails 1.4 polishes up the privacy-obsessed Linux OS trusted byEdward Snowden

Tails, a privacy and anonymity-focused Linux distribution most famously used by EdwardSnowden (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2361120/snowden-leaks-after-one-year-wrangling-over-the-meaning-of-bulk.html), just released version 1.4.

This Debian-based system is designed to preserve your privacy and anonymity online(http://www.pcworld.com/article/2143846/leave-no-trace-tips-to-cover-your-digital-footprint-and-reclaim-your-privacy.html), providing better protection than just using the Torbrowser (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2686467/how-to-use-the-tor-browser-to-surf-the-web-anonymously.html) alone on a typical operating system. How effective is thisconcealment-centric operating system’s tools? Well, in 2012, vulnerabilities for Tails topped

Chris Hoffman

PCWorld May 15, 2015 6:00 AM

Chris Hoffman (/author/Chris-Hoffman/) | @chrisbhoffman (https://twitter.com/chrisbhoffman)

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the NSA’s most-wanted list (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2863972/tor-truecrypt-tails-topped-the-nsas-most-wanted-list-in-2012.html) alongside Tor and TrueCrypt.

Let’s dig into Tails’ basic capabilities, as well as the new changes.

Why Edward Snowden (and others) choose TailsTails (https://tails.boum.org/index.en.html) stands for “The Amnesiac Incognito LiveSystem,” and it’s designed to be booted and run entirely from a disc, USB drive, or SDcard. This ensures no traces of your activity are written to your PC’s hard drive. It alsomeans any malware or other surveillance software running on a computer’s normaloperating system—Windows, for example—won’t be involved with the Tails session.

(https://cms-images.idgesg.net/images/article/2015/05/tails-tor-browser-100585358-orig.png)

Tails 1.4 running the Tor browser.

Even if you’re using an untrusted computer, you can reboot it with Tails inserted. Boot upinto Tails and you can now trust the computer much more, as you don’t have to worryabout software running in the background snooping on you. It isn’t absolutely foolproof,however—in theory, malicious firmware on the PC’s hardware (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2109267/proprietary-firmware-poses-a-security-threat-ubuntu-founder-says.html)could be sitting in the background and snooping on you.

Tails includes the Tor Browser as well as the I2P anonymizing software (https://geti2p.net/en/). Unlike simply installing the Tor Browser on a typical computer, Tails is designed toroute all communications possible over Tor and prevent applications from leaking traffic.The Tor enforcement document (https://tails.boum.org/contribute/design/Tor_enforcement/) explains exactly how the underlying system is configured to force trafficthrough Tor. Not only does it force browser traffic through the Tor browser, it also routesother applications’ traffic over Tor, doing its best to prevent any anonymity-compromisingtraffic from leaking.

(https://cms-images.idgesg.net/images/article/2015/05/tails-notifications-100585357-orig.png)

Watch out for that virtual machine.


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Along with Tor and I2P, Tails ships other privacy software. For example, Pidgin ispreinstalled with the Off-the-Record plug-in (http://www.pcworld.com/article/240469/eff_inspects_encryption_tool_for_adium_pidgin_im_clients.html) for encrypted chatting.You’ll also find software like the KeePassX password manager, Electrum BitCoin wallet,and disk-wiping and encryption tools.

Not only does this make Tor much more foolproof and isolate anonymous Internet use froma computer’s normal operating system, all of the software you’ll need is preinstalled alongwith links to various help pages. It’s a single package you can keep on a USB drive in yourpocket, so you don’t have to hunt down all the software and install it individually.

What’s new in Tails 1.4The latest version of Tails upgrades the Tor Browser to version 4.5. This latest releaseoffers a security slider for restricting browser features even further, potentially offering moresecurity. When you connect to a website, the latest Tor Browser loads all that website’sresources through the same Tor circuit. While browsing a website, it keeps using that sameTor circuit. When you go to a different website, it uses a new Tor circuit. This preventswebsites from connecting your website visits to you and ensures a website’s behaviorwon’t change as you’re viewing it.

(https://cms-images.idgesg.net/images/article/2015/05/tails-tor-network-map-100585360-orig.png)

Tor's network map running in Tails 1.4.

The new default search engine is “Disconnect (https://search.disconnect.me/).” This searchengine provides anonymized results from Google, and you won’t see the normalCAPTCHAs attempting to confirm you’re a human that you would if you were using Googlethrough Tor. A command named Paperkey is also included, allowing you to print a backupof your OpenPGP secret keys to a piece of paper.

Aside from these changes, there are the usual ones you’d expect in a new version of aLinux distribution—version bumps to the Tor and I2P software, support for more printers,and better support for Vietnamese fonts in LibreOffice. Read the Tails 1.4 release notes(https://tails.boum.org/news/version_1.4/index.en.html) for more details. If you’re actually


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Chris Hoffman Chris Hoffman

(https://twitter.com/chrisbhoffman)(https://plus.google.com/107865379603964146316/posts)

Chris Hoffman is a tech geek who's been writing about everything technology-related for years. When he'snot writing about gadgets and software, he's probably using them in his spare time.More by Chris Hoffman (/author/Chris-Hoffman/)

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planning on using Tails, be sure to read the about page (https://tails.boum.org/about/index.en.html) and warnings (https://tails.boum.org/doc/about/warning/index.en.html)before getting started.

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tails 1.4 polishes up the privacy-obsessed linux os trusted by edward snowden | pcworld

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