Anonymity in the network is carried out not only by operating systems and anonymous browsers, virtual numbers for receiving SMS on the site simonline.su will be able to take over all spam and keep the user's personal number safe.
But users who care about security will be pleased to know that there are also a number of Linux distributions (distributions) specially designed to ensure privacy. They can help protect your data with encryption and Live mode, when no data is written to your hard drive.
Other distributions focus on penetration testing (pen testing) - they come with tools actually used by hackers that you can use to verify the security of your network. In this article, we’ll talk about the top 10 offers regarding privacy and security.
1. Qubes OS
Extremely secure OS, but only for advanced users
Although Qubes is definitely not for novice users, it is one of the best distributions that care about privacy. The graphical installer should be used to install the OS on the hard drive to be encrypted.
Qubes uses the Xen hypervisor to manage multiple virtual machines, dividing your life into personal, work, Internet, and so on for security reasons. This means that if you accidentally download malware onto your work machine, for example, your personal files will not be compromised.
The main desktop uses color-coded windows to display various virtual machines, making them easier to distinguish.
2. Tails
Stay anonymous online with Tor
Tails (which means “The Amnesiac Incognito Live System”) is probably the most well-known privacy-oriented distribution. It can be run from DVD in Live mode, so it is fully loaded into the RAM of your system and does not leave any traces of its activity. The OS can also be used in “permanent” mode, where your settings can be stored on an encrypted USB drive.
All connections are routed through the anonymous Tor network, which hides your location. Tails apps have also been carefully selected to increase your privacy — for example, the KeePassX and Paperkey password manager, a command-line tool used to export OpenPGP private keys for printing on paper. There are also a small number of productivity applications, such as Mozilla Thunderbird and the powerful LibreOffice package.
You can install more applications from the Debian repositories via the command line, but downloading them will take some time when going through the Tor network.
Please note that vulnerabilities are constantly detected using Tails, so be sure to check for updates (as, of course, you should do with any OS).
3. BlackArch Linux
Has a huge set of tools for testing and hacking
This manual test distribution is based on Arch Linux, which may be good or bad news, depending on how familiar you are with its parent operating system. Although this OS is relatively new, it contains over 2000 different hacking tools, eliminating the need to download what you need every time.
The distribution is constantly updated, new ISO images are released quarterly. They are very large (currently 11 GB) due to the number of preinstalled programs, but note that there is also a much smaller version of Netinstall, which is only about 620 MB.
BlackArch can be launched in real time from a USB drive or CD, or installed on a computer or virtual machine. You can even install it on your Raspberry Pi to get a portable test computer that you can carry with you wherever you go.
Of particular note is the forensic category, as it contains tools to scan your memory for passwords for encrypted devices. This helps protect your machine from a cold boot attack.
4. Kali
Industry standard testing
Kali, named after the Hindu goddess, is one of the oldest and most well-known distros for testing. The Kali download page offers ISO images that are updated weekly, which can be run in real time or installed on disk. Kali will also be happy to work on ARM devices such as the Raspberry Pi.
Kali's reputation is so huge that its creators offer training through Kali Linux Dojo. Tutorials include setting up your own Kali Linux ISO code and learning the basics of manual testing. For those who cannot be trained, all the educational resources of the classes are available on the Kali website for free.
Anyone who is interested in a career in information security can also take part in paid Kali penetration testing courses, which are conducted online and undergo independent training. There is a 24-hour certification exam that, if passed, will make you a qualified penetration tester.
5. IprediaOS
Stay on the radar through an anonymous I2P network
This privacy-oriented operating system is based on Fedora Linux and can be run in live mode or installed on the hard drive. Just as the Tails operating system routes all your connections through the Tor network to anonymize your connection, Ipredia routes all your network traffic through the anonymous I2P network.
This is known as garlic routing, the process by which I2P establishes unidirectional encrypted tunnels to protect your data. This is theoretically much safer than the “onion routing” of Tor, which transmits data on established “channels”, that is, they can be designed for monitoring.
Features include anonymous email, the BitTorrent client, and the ability to browse websites (special domains with the .i2p extension). Unlike Tor, I2P does not act as a gateway to the regular Internet, so Ipredia cannot securely access regular websites.
The only advantage of accessing websites is that your connection is really not being monitored. Since I2P is designed specifically for “hidden” services, connection and download speeds are usually much higher than routing through Tor, as TAILS does.
6. Whonix
Take advantage of virtual machine capabilities for network security
Downloading the Live operating system is a nuisance, since you need to restart the computer, and installing it on the hard drive means that there is a risk of compromising it. Whonix offers an elegant compromise designed to work as a virtual machine inside the free Virtualbox program.
Whonix is divided into two parts. The first “gateway” routes all connections to the Tor network for the second part of the “Workstation”. This greatly reduces the chance of DNS leaks that you can use to track the websites you visit.
The OS has a number of privacy features. They include apps like Tor Browser and Tox Instant Messenger.
Because it runs on a virtual machine, Whonix is compatible with all operating systems that Virtualbox can run on. Virtual machines can only use part of the resources of your real system, so Whonix will not necessarily work as fast as the OS installed on the local hard drive.
7. Discreete Linux
Keep your data a secret by keeping it offline with this distribution
This intentionally mistaken distribution is the successor to the stunning Ubuntu Privacy Remix. The OS does not support network equipment or internal hard drives, so all data is stored offline in RAM or on a USB drive. It can be launched in Live mode, but when booting from a volume it also allows you to save some settings in an encrypted “Cryptobox”.
Another useful feature is that kernel modules can only be installed if they are digitally signed by the Discreete Linux team. This prevents hackers from trying to infiltrate malware. Please note that this operating system is currently in beta testing.
8. Parrot Security OS
Another distribution teeming with testing utilities
This distribution kit for testing comes to us from the Italian team Frozenbox. Like Kali and BlackArch, it classifies tools for easy access and even has a section for the ones you use most often.
Parrot is based on Debian 10 (Buster), the testing branch of this OS, so you may run into stability issues. However, note that Parrot has many more colorful backgrounds and menus than its parent OS. Thus, its hardware requirements are higher than other testing distributions such as Kali.
A minimum of 4 GB of RAM is recommended. If you do not have free RAM, you can switch to the “lite” version of Parrot Security OS, choose to install and run only those programs that you need.
For those with minimal resources, Parrot Cloud is a special version of the distribution kit, specially designed to work on the server. It has no graphics, but contains a number of online and forensic tools that allow you to run tests remotely. For those with a very limited budget, there is even an experimental version for the Raspberry Pi.
9. Subgraph OS
Following Edward Snowden's recommendations ...
Subgraph OS is based on Debian Linux and is designed for ultra-hard protection. The kernel has been strengthened by a number of security enhancements, and Subgraph also creates virtual sandboxes around dangerous applications such as web browsers.
A dedicated firewall also routes all outbound connections through the anonymous Tor network. Each application must be manually approved by the user to connect to the network and to access the sandboxes of other applications.
In April 2017, Joanna Rutkowska, creator of Qubes, along with security researcher Mick Lee, were able to circumvent Subgraph security by running a malicious application in the Nautilus file manager, which is not in the sandbox.
This attack will also work on other privacy-oriented distributions such as Tails. The Subgraph team has not yet developed a patch for this exploit, but has indicated that the OS is still in the alpha development stage.
This distribution is designed to be installed on a hard drive. Encryption of your file system is mandatory, which means that there is no danger of writing unencrypted data anywhere. As already mentioned, Subgraph is still in the testing phase, so don't rely on it to protect truly sensitive data (and, as always, back up regularly).
10. TENS
NSA approved and lightning fast
Our tenth proposal is pretty accurate - TENS (Trusted End Node Security). This Linux distribution, formerly known as LPS (Lightweight Portable Security), was developed by none other than the US Air Force and is approved by the NSA.
The public version of TENS is specifically designed to work in real time, which means that any malware is removed at the end of the work. It includes a minimal set of applications, but there is also a version of Public Deluxe that comes with Adobe Reader and LibreOffice. All versions include a customizable firewall, and it is also worth noting that this operating system supports smart card login.
