Urbin Technology

I had to look into ‘secure’ Linux distros for a project, and the one I picked was Tails. You can find it at https://tails.net. The key feature of this distro is all the network traffic goes through the Tor network. There is a brief window were it attaches to a network and makes the Tor connection, but all traffic is blocked until that connection is made.

I run it off a USB on an old Intel based MacBook Air. Runs fine. It’s not a feature rich distro, which is fine given its purpose. You get a browser, basic office apps, a terminal, and your standard basic admin tools.

Another security feature is that no data is retained between sessions. The only exception is an encrypted data vault that requires a key phrase at startup. It also runs by default without a root password. This is a feature, since it requires a root password to run sudo type commands, including system updates and installing applications. If you want to run those types of commands, you need to set a root password at startup, which is only valid for that session.

If you need a secure network connection for a task, like White Hat cybersecurity projects, give Tails Linux a shot.

Filed under: cybersecurity, Geek Skills, LINUX |