14 DAY TRIAL // Tails, the Debian-based amnesic incognito live system known as the Anonymous OS used by ex-CIA Edward Snowden to stay hidden online, just got one of its biggest updates this year.
In development for the past couple of months, the Tails 3.9 release has hit the streets this week with some long-anticipated features, including VeraCrypt/TrueCrypt integration, which lets users unlock VeraCrypt or TrueCrypt encrypted disk drives directly from the GNOME desktop environment.
VeraCrypt integration landed with the recently released GNOME 3.30 desktop environment and was implemented in both the Nautilus (Files) and Disks utilities, and will be available outside of Tails 3.9 in the upcoming Debian GNU/Linux 10 "Buster" and Ubuntu 18.10 (Cosmic Cuttlefish) operating systems.
Unlock VeraCrypt encrypted volumes in Tails 3.9 is easy as accessing the new Unlock VeraCrypt Volumes dialog from Applications > System Tools. The features appear to support encrypted drives that have been encrypted with either TrueCrypt or VeraCrypt open-source disk encryption utilities.
Tails now automatically installs additional software
Another exciting feature of the Tails 3.9 release is the ability for the Linux-based operating system to automatically install software updates when starting up the PC. Users will be able to choose to install future updates of an app, and manage automatically updated apps from Applications > System Tools > Additional Software.
Also new in Tails 3.9 is Mozilla Thunderbird 60 becoming the new default RSS and Atom news feed reader instead of Liferea, which will be removed from Tails starting with version 3.12 in early 2019, the latest TOR Browser 8.0 anonymous web browser based on Firefox 60 ESR, Tor 0.3.4.7 RC, and Electrum 3.1.3.
Under the hood, Tails 3.9 is powered by Linux kernel 4.17 with patches for Foreshadow (L1 Terminal Fault) attacks, an updated graphics stack with better support for some GPUs, as well as updated Intel and AMD microcode firmware to mitigate the latest Spectre and Meltdown security vulnerabilities. Also, several bugs were fixed, so check out the release notes for more details.
Last but not least, Tails 3.9 improves the configuration of the persistent storage in the GNOME desktop environment to make it easier for users to scroll it, as well as to be more consistent with the GNOME design guidelines. Tails 3.9 is available for download, and the development is now open for the next major release, Tails 3.10, which expected on October 23, 2018.
