Tails (operating system)
OS family | Unix-like |
---|---|
Working state | Current |
Source model | Open source |
Initial release | June 23, 2009 |
Latest release | 1.5 / August 11, 2015[1] |
Repository | |
Marketing target | Personal computers |
Platforms | IA-32 |
Kernel type | Monolithic (Linux) |
Userland | GNU |
Default user interface | GNOME 3 |
License | GPLv3+[2] |
Preceded by | Incognito |
Official website | tails |
Tails or The Amnesic Incognito Live System is a security-focused Debian-based Linux distribution aimed at preserving privacy and anonymity.[3] All its outgoing connections are forced to go through Tor,[4] and direct (non-anonymous) connections are blocked. The system is designed to be booted as a live DVD or live USB, and will leave no trace (digital footprint) on the machine unless explicitly told to do so. The Tor Project has provided financial support for its development.[5]
History
Tails was first released on 23 June 2009. It is the next iteration of development on Incognito, a Gentoo-based Linux distribution.[6] The Tor Project has provided financial support for its development.[5] Tails has also received funding from the Debian Project, Mozilla, and the Freedom of the Press Foundation.[7]
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.[8][9][10]
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".[11][12]
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..."[13][14]
Bundled software
- GNOME desktop
Networking
- Tor with: Stream isolation, regular and obfsproxy bridges support, the Vidalia graphical frontend.
- Firefox (Iceweasel) preconfigured with: TorBrowser patches, Torbutton for anonymity and protection against JavaScript, HTTPS Everywhere a Firefox extension which transparently enables SSL-encrypted connections to a great number of major websites, and all cookies are treated as session cookies by default; the CS Lite extension provides more fine-grained cookie control for those who need it.
- NetworkManager for easy network configuration
- Pidgin preconfigured with OTR for Off-the-Record Messaging
- Claws Mail e-mail client, with user-friendly GnuPG support
- Liferea feed aggregator
- Gobby for collaborative writing of text
- Aircrack-ng for Wi-Fi networks auditing
- I2P, an anonymizing network
Encryption and privacy
- 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
- PWGen, a strong random password generator
- Shamir's Secret Sharing using gfshare and ssss
- Florence virtual keyboard as a countermeasure against hardware keyloggers
- MAT to anonymize metadata in files
- KeePassX password manager
One may choose among a large number of languages when the system is booted.
Release history
Legend: Old version Latest version Future release |
Release history | |||
---|---|---|---|
Version | Release date | Notes | |
[15] | 0.223 June 2009 |
| |
[16] | 0.5? |
| |
[15] | 1.029 April 2014 |
| |
[17] | 1.0.110 June 2014 |
| |
[18] | 1.122 July 2014 |
| |
[19] | 1.1.12 September 2014 |
| |
[20] | 1.1.2? |
| |
[21] | 1.216 October 2014 |
| |
[22] | 1.2.115 December 2014 |
| |
[23] | 1.2.215 December 2014 |
| |
[24] | 1.2.315 January 2015 |
| |
[25] | 1.324 February 2015 |
| |
[26] | 1.3.123 March 2015 |
| |
[27] | 1.3.231 March 2015 |
| |
[28] | 1.412 May 2015 |
| |
2.0 | TBA |
| |
3.0 | TBA |
| |
Version | Release date | Notes |
See also
References
- ^ "Tails 1.5 is out". Tails. August 11, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- ^ "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", TecChannel (in German), February 6, 2012, retrieved August 12, 2012
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b "Finances". Tails. April 4, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Jacob Appelbaum, A. Gibson, J. Goetz, V. Kabisch, L. Kampf, L. Ryge (July 3, 2014). "NSA targets the privacy-conscious". DasErste.de.
{{cite web}}
: 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.
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(help) - ^ a b c d "Tails 1.0 is out". Tails. May 1, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ^ "version 0.5". Tails. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
- ^ "Tails 1.0.1 is out". Tails. June 10, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ^ "Tails 1.1 is out". Tails. July 31, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
- ^ "Tails 1.1.1 is out". Tails. September 2, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ^ "Tails 1.1.2 is out". Tails. September 26, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ^ "Tails 1.2 is out". Tails. October 16, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
- ^ "Tails 1.2.1 is out". Tails. December 16, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ^ "Tails 1.2.2 is out". Tails. December 16, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ^ "Tails 1.2.3 is out". Tails. January 23, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ^ "Tails 1.3 is out". Tails. February 24, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
- ^ "Tails 1.3.1 is out". Tails. March 23, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ^ "Tails 1.3.2 is out". Tails. March 31, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ^ "Tails 1.4 is out". Tails. May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
External links
- Official website
- Tails at Tor project website
- Tails - Known issues
- Tails at DistroWatch