Maybe you have heard about the Lavabit.com, the extra secure and private e-mail provider that Mr. Snowden used. This service has shutdown rather abruptly, not to comply with the US government requests about the Snowden connections.
Talis Operating System
But we will not go into further details with this story, as we’d like to talk about the free, super secure Linux version, used by Edward Snowden, called Tails, which can fit on a USB flash drive and leave no trace on the host computer.
An OS installed onto a USB stick is no longer news and neither is the USB thumb drive Linux. But this version, the Tails, is an operating system optimised especially for anonymity an it is designed to keep our digital lives as secure as possible. As its developers stated, Tails is aiming to preserve privacy and anonymity on the web and on any used computer, unless asked specifically. It can run from a DVD, USB flash drive or SD card no matter of the host computer original operating system.
This all sounds very interesting, but suspicious in the time, as Tail developers remain anonymous. According to Wired, the anonymity of the developers is preserved to help protect the code programing from any government interference.
To maintain anonymity, Tail uses Tor with PGP, KeePassX’s password management system, and the Off-the-Record’s chat encryption plugin. Also, it is carefully configured not to use the computer’s hard drive, even for swap space. The only computer resource that Tail uses is the RAM, which is erased upon the computer’s shutdown.
Again, Tail leaves no trace of itself, not even on the computer that was used on. This is why the developers call this OS an ‘amnesic’ operating system.
So if you think that Tail is the thing you need, well, give it a try. You can download it for free on the developer’s website, here.
