Whonix : Debian GNU/Linux based Security-focused Linux distribution

1.     Even if one is not doing anything wrong, he is being watched and recorded in real time as Edward Snowden revealed few years back. Most Internet users value online anonymity, with majority saying they have taken steps to remove or mask their digital footprints, and  reporting that they have taken steps to avoid being observed by specific people, organizations, or governments.Whonix is a Debian GNU/Linux based security-focused Linux distribution which aims to provide privacy, security and anonymity on the internet. The operating system consists of two virtual machines, a "Workstation" and a Tor "Gateway", running Debian GNU/Linux. All communications are forced through the Tor network.This post gives you screen-shots of installation and execution of the virtual appliances involved.

2.    The Gateway VM is responsible for running Tor, and has two virtual network interfaces. One of these is connected to the outside Internet via NAT on the VM host, and is used to communicate with Tor relays. The other is connected to a virtual LAN that runs entirely inside the host.

3.    The Workstation VM runs user applications and is connected only to the internal virtual LAN, and can directly communicate only with the Gateway, which forces all traffic coming from the Workstation to pass through the Tor network. The Workstation VM can "see" only IP addresses on the Internal LAN, which are the same in every Whonix installation.

4.  Download the two virtual machines ie the Gateway and the workstation from https://www.whonix.org/wiki/VirtualBox

5.   Once you download the two machines as above from the link in reference,the following screen-shots will assist you in installation of the same.The two downloaded files are seen below : 

Instead of typically creating a virtual machine and then mounting a vdi,in this case more simply we have to just import the .ova appliance,rest is in auto mode.

Next

Next

Agree to the T&C

Next

Will take few minutes loading

Next

Import

Agree again

Import appliance of the workstation

So u have two machines in the virtualbox console as seen in the bottom two listing below :

Just click both with the start button...and the machine start

Next

Next

Next

Ok

Updated TOR download

Here we see the IP address relating to Budapest Hungary....and thats surely not the user....:-)

How to be Anonymous on Internet ?

1.   Every one of us who is aware and conscious of the repercussions of cookies,trackers,malware's, ad-wares, extensions in browsers,privacy issues on the internet would always dream of if he/she could be anonymous on the internet whilst surfing....and in my few posts in past here , here and here, I have discussed few ways and tools that could make you anonymous on the web.But in recent times after having surfed for a while I have compiled a list of LIVE DVDs and few OS that can help you maintain anonymity.These along with the website and the name are mentioned below :

Mandragora Linux: Gnome desktop built on Ubuntu, to be used for digital forensics during incident response and vulnerability assessments. It comes with hacking tools like nmap (port scanner), Wireshark (packet sniffer), Kismet (Wi-Fi monitoring) and enhancing privacy tools like the tor proxy, torchat and i2P.Website at : 

 Jondo Live-CD / DVD : Jondo Live-CD/DVD offers a secure, pre-configured environment for anonymous surfing and more. It is based on Debian GNU/Linux. The live system contains proxy clients for JonDonym, Tor Onion Router, I2P and Mixmaster remailer. JonDoBrowser is pre-configured for anonymous web surfing, Thunderbird for e-mails, Pidgin for anonymous instant messaging and chats, Parole media player, MAT for cleaning documents and more application are part of the live-cd.Website at : https://anonymous-proxy-servers.net/en/jondo-live-cd.html

Privatix Live System: This is a live distro based on Debian. It is an easy to operate, safe and portable system that can be booted from a cd-rom, an usb flash drive or an external hard drive and ensures your privacy and confidentiality while using the internet and communicating or editing and encrypting sensitive data. Private data and settings, documents, e-mails, or pgp-keys are not saved on the computer that you use but instead those are saved on the encrypted usb flash drive or on the encrypted external hard drive. In case of loss or theft of the data medium your personal data is going to stay protected by a password. Privatix Live System allows for anonymous web surfing using Tor, Firefox and Torbutton.Website at http://www.mandalka.name/privatix/index.html.en

The Amnesic Incognito Live System (TAILS): Based on Debian this is a live distro aimed at preserving your privacy and anonymity. All outgoing connections are forced through the Tor network. Also no trace is left on local storage devices. TAILS comes with bundled software with software like OpenOffice, Claws Mail with OpenPGP and Pidgin.Website at https://tails.boum.org/

Polippix: Polippix is based on  Kubuntu and was made by the IT-Political Association of Denmark as a protest against the anti-terror laws being passed in Denmark. It uses Tor for anonymous Internet surfing, MAC address changer, GnuPG for encryption and driftnet for traffic sniffing.Website at : http://www.polippix.org/

Ubuntu Privacy Remix (UPR): Ubuntu Privacy Remix runs from a modified Live-CD based on Ubuntu.The goal of Ubuntu Privacy Remix is to provide an isolated working environment where sensitive data can be dealt with safely. This is achieved by storing all user data in encrypted form in the removable storage media. Warning: UPR is to be used for encrypting sensitive data and not for anonymous web surfing. It doesn’t allow network connections.Website at : https://www.privacy-cd.org/

Liberte Linux: This is live linux distribution based on Gentoo  that is secure, lightweight and easy to use. It uses Tor for anonymous network communication and has features such as persistent storage on a virtual partition, Netfilter IP firewall and more.Website at : http://dee.su/liberte

Whonix: Whonix is an anonymous general purpose operating system based on Virtual Box, Debian GNU/Linux and Tor. By Whonix design, IP and DNS leaks are impossible.Website at : http://sourceforge.net/p/whonix/wiki/Home/

Ipredia: IprediaOS is a fast, powerful and stable operating system based on Linux that provides an anonymous environment. All network traffic is automatically and transparently encrypted and anonymized. Many applications are available in IprediaOS, including mail, peer-peer, bittorrent, IRC chat and others. Contrary to other anonymity enhancing Linux distributions, Ipredia does not use Tor but prefers the I2P anonymizing network.Website at : http://www.ipredia.org/

Qubes OS: Qubes is an open source operating system designed to provide strong security for desktop computing. Qubes is based on Xen, X Window System, and Linux, and can run most Linux applications and utilize most of the Linux drivers. Qubes implements Security by Isolation approach by providing a user with ability to easily create many security domains.Website at : http://qubes-os.org/trac

2.    Thanks : http://www.kimpl.com

Central Monitoring System : Another step in the Wrong Direction ?

1.    The month of "May" has become started with a "Will" from Indian Government.Now after so many still unresolved issues on Facebook posts and similar things in respect of issues of privacy,it has come up now with Central Monitoring System(CMS).The concept was placed in parliament  some time in December 2012 by the then information technology minister Milind Deora on which the government plans to spend Rs 400 crore and this would "lawfully intercept internet and telephone services"

2.  Now this means that everything we say or text over the phone, write, post or browse over the Internet will be centrally monitored by Indian authorities.Every byte of what is being exchanged by you over the net would be monitored.....but is it actually required?I have doubts per-se owing to the amount of further investment it would require.At a time when Big Data analytics is still maturing,investing so much on monitoring and storing some portion of it pan India would be a herculean task.The key points that I found interesting are dotted below :

- With the lack of privacy laws to protect Indian citizens against potential abuse,this would set another example of wrong feather in the cap.

- CMS has been prepared by the Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TREM) and the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) and is being manned by the Intelligence Bureau. 

- Without any manual intervention from telecom service providers, CMS will equip government agencies with Direct Electronic Provisioning, filter and provide Call Data Records (CDR) analysis and data mining to identify the personal information and provide alerts of the target numbers.

- The estimated cost of CMS is Rs. 4 billion. It will be connected with the Telephone Call Interception System (TCIS) which will help monitor voice calls, SMS and MMS, fax communications on landlines, CDMA, video calls, GSM and 3G networks. Is their any thing on Mother India Earth left to monitor?

3. Now I fail to understand that how Government expects to monitor cyber criminals by this CMS? Does government actually intend to find out the actual potent and dangerous Cyber Criminals or are they only interested in finding love affairs of local boys and girls!!!coz if the intention is former,would the cyber gang do it without tricks?...without encryption?...without spoofing?...when things like stegnography,TOR,Anonymous etc are still to be deciphered....the cyber crime would go on as it is.The focus should have been on analyzing of what is floating around rather then monitoring open text and messages.

4.  For example if a person with malicious intent,uses Whonix or anonymous kind of OS from a local cyber cafe and then places his message vide a steganographed image that is encrypted,is their any way that this can be deciphered?....technology does not exist today to decipher all this quickly ..still time is there when we reach such a stage....few months back in Dec 2012 when torrent was apparently blocked on directives from Govt Of India,anonymous group had given a open letter shared at http://www.geektech.in/archives/9924.

5. Well it is very clear that the decision makers in such moves are unclear on technological reality but also provisions for a scenario like WAR within....each step in such a direction has to be taken carefully because these are really critical.Additionally,outsourcing such moves to unreliable or may be foreign firms may become a serious threat.....

6.  Well at the end of the day,it is just my view per-sewhich no body is bothered...but the repercussions are serious to be avoided and ignored

Whonix : Not just another ANONYMOUS OS!!!

1.     When u simply Google on "How to surf Anonymously on the web ? ".....u get a whooping 5,510,000 results in 0.19 seconds!!!!!but when u have such a plethora of options..how do u actually decide on which is actually worth? So there is TOR, then there is Anonymous OS.....did some one think Incognito?....:-)..so we have millions in the line!...so now what I am going to mention here is about Whonix OS.....few points about this as follows :

- An anonymous general purpose Operating System based on Virtual Box, Debian GNU/Linux and Tor.

- By Whonix design, IP and DNS leaks are impossible.

- Not even malware with root rights can find out the user's real IP/location.

- Whonix consists of two (virtual) machines.

-  One VM solely runs Tor and acts as a gateway, which we call Whonix-Gateway.

-  The other VM, which we call Whonix-Workstation, is on a completely isolated network.

-  Only connections through Tor are possible.

2.  When you download the image from the source forge site at http://sourceforge.net/projects/whonix/files/whonix-0.5.6/ you get basically three files.Two in the appliance format and one as a vmdk.So here is the basic diagram explaining the working architecture in WHONIX.

(Click on the image to enlarge)

3.   There is a small difference when we install this OS.Unlike the regular OSs wherein you get the .iso image of the OS and you install it in the typical manner,here the files you need to install are actually virtual appliances in form of .ovf and .ova format.How the installation is done is shown in the video cast below :