WHY USE TAILS OS?
This article contains all you need to know about TAILS OS along with steps for installing it.
I am sure you would have seen an advertisement on your phone about something that you have searched on your laptop or vice-versa. This is the level of digital tracking going on these days. The main reason for tracking us to this level is to understand our needs in a better way and to show us better ads. For the internet to remain financially free, ads are indeed necessary, but a third party/person having such intricate information about you, watching and tracking every move of yours on the internet is terrifying. Your data might get stolen by a hacker and might be used for numerous things such as cyber frauds, identity thefts, scams, or harassment, and so on. This encourages us to be more vigilant.
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To protect yourself from such scandals, I’m sure many of you have heard and might be using many tools such as VPN or some chrome or firefox extension. But these tools have their own limitations as your information is visible to your ISP and the website you visit. However, there is another more sophisticated and much secure solution that will more or less put you off the grid (just like in movies). I am sure most of you remember Edward Snowden! He himself used this approach to stay anonymous while violating the espionage act by leaking the Classified Intelligence Information.
The Amnesic Incognito Live System a.k.a TAILS operating system
TAILS is a portable operating system, built explicitly to stay anonymous on the internet (real incognito). It has many security features which help you stay off the grid while surfing the internet. One of its highlights is TOR, which leaves no trace on the internet. You can avoid tracking, watchful eyes of the government, and can browse securely.
TAILS at a Glance
- Tails is a Linux Distribution OS and have a GNOME desktop.
- Simplistic UI
- All internet traffic is routed via TOR.
- Opensource and all its softwares are opensource.
- Can run various hardwares.
- Fast and simplistic booting process.
WHAT IS TOR?
To understand what exactly TOR does, let us first understand how the current system works. When you open any website on your pc or phone, you get connected to the internet with the help of your ISP i.e. Internet Service Provider. Thus, your ISP knows your IP. This IP basically represents who you are. Your IP is also associated with your location. So, he knows where you are. Now, one would say that this issue can be easily solved with VPN i.e. Virtual Private Networks. This is true, VPN can protect your IP from your ISP and Websites to a certain extent. But, now these VPNs have access to your data. Basically, you are giving data to Y just to hide your data from person X.
To solve this issue TOR comes in to picture. It’s basically a community made of people who value their privacy. TOR connects you to a random TOR node which connects to another node and then another which connects to your website. This makes it impossible for the website to track you or your location. As websites can only see your last node using which you are visiting the website. Your ISP cannot track you as they can only see the 1st node. It's just a random node for them. They don’t know the end story — basically the website you are visiting.
This proves to be very helpful when using a public network where the Wifi owner can track each step. As this was not enough as it is, all the data sent via TOR is also encrypted, so basically it’s all useless to people tracking your data stream. TOR does not allow any website to store cookies or any other trackers. This is to ensure that no website can watch you in any possible way.
TAILS is not supposed to be installed on the system. You can simply run TAILS just by inserting a pen-drive. As a result, no data is not stored. Once you shut down, the system is wiped clean. Data is gone permanently. This is the reason TAILS is known as an AMNESIAC OS.
Now, you can see how TAILS makes you a complete ghost. TOR doesn’t leave a trace of your digital footprint and all of your digital identity is gone the moment you shut your pc down.
You might be wondering, if I can’t store any data, then how can I work? What if I want a few of my files stored permanently. TAILS also has a solution for this. Though it is not advised, there is a way to save your files if you must. Selective Persistence Storage is offered by TAILS which is completely encrypted. Only a few selected files should be stored, the rest will be vaporized after each reboot. There are many apps available in TAILS. TOR for browsing, Libreoffice for word, excel, etc. Onionshare to share files (uses TOR), Thunderbird for email — which encrypts all your emails. No application can bypass TOR and connect directly to the internet. They all have to mandatorily use TOR for connecting. This strict policy makes sure that any application installed cannot leak your data.
Though TAILS is insanely secure there are few drawbacks to it
- Cannot be used to run heavy applications.
- Should not be used as the main OS.
- Cannot be used for navigation, as your location is never exposed.
INSTALLING TAILS
1. Download TAILS here from its official website.
2. Insert your Pendrive.
3. Right-click on the downloaded USB image file and open with disk image writer.
4. Select Pendrive and proceed.
5. That’s it! Your bootable drive will be ready.
RUNNING TAILS
1. Plug in the USB-drive.
2. Press the power button.
3. If it doesn’t boot TAILS OS
3.1. Hit F12 after pressing the power button.
3.2. Select boot using USB-drive.
4. That’s it!
Just to make it clear, TAILS do not make you invisible. If you login into your Facebook account, they will know it’s you. There is no escaping it. Also, do not use TAILS for illegal activities. TAILS is just to protect you from websites that collect a ridiculous amount of data about you. Though this data is majorly for showing relevant ads but can easily fall into wrong hands and be misused. Use TAILS when you need to access public networks and transfer sensitive information.
Thanks for reading! I hope this article will help you stay incognito and protect your privacy. Feel free to reach out to me on Linkedin in case you have any doubts.
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