Tails 4.8 and Tor Browser 9.5.1 Released
The release of the specialized distribution Tails 4.8 (The Amnesic Incognito Live System) has been announced. Tails is based on Debian packages and is designed to provide anonymous internet access. Anonymity in Tails is ensured through the Tor network. By default, all connections except those routed through Tor are blocked by a packet filter. User data persistence between sessions is protected with encryption. The distribution is available as a 1 GB ISO image that can be run in Live mode.
Main Changes in Tails 4.8
- By default, the Unsafe Browser—which allows direct internet connections bypassing Tor and is used for connecting through captive portals in public Wi-Fi networks—is now disabled. Since careless use of the Unsafe Browser can lead to user deanonymization (for example, after exploiting a vulnerability in Thunderbird, an attacker could launch the Unsafe Browser and reveal the real IP address), only the Tor Browser is enabled by default. To use the Unsafe Browser, a special option must be set in the settings.
- The Welcome Screen has been significantly redesigned, now allowing certain settings to persist between reboots. Currently, this feature is limited to enabling the Unsafe Browser, but more options are planned for future releases.
- Updated software versions include: Linux kernel 5.6, Tor Browser 9.5.1, Thunderbird 68.8.0, GnuTLS 3.6.7-4, Tor 0.4.3.5, intel-microcode 3.20200609.2, and LibreOffice 6.1.5-3.
Tor Browser 9.5.1 Update
At the same time, a new version of Tor Browser 9.5.1 has been released, focusing on anonymity, security, and privacy. This release is synchronized with the Firefox 68.10.0 ESR codebase, which addresses several vulnerabilities (details of which remain undisclosed). The NoScript extension has also been updated to version 11.0.32.
Sources and Additional Information
- Official Tails website: https://tails.boum.org/
- Tor Browser: https://www.torproject.org/