Tails Linux Is Teaming up With the Tor Project

The Tor Project (the group behind the Tor browser) just merged with the organization that developed the security-hardened Tails operating system. Going forward, the two teams will share resources, operations, and collaborate on their projects.

Tails is a modified version of Debian Linux, custom-built for maximum security and privacy. The Tails OS uses the Tor network by default, which anonymizes all data sent over the internet, and it can run off a USB stick. The Tor Project developed the Tor Browser (a privacy-hardened version of Firefox) that anonymizes you on the internet. Journalists, whistleblowers, activists, and other at-risk individuals who need to keep their digital identity secret use tools like the Tor browser and Tails OS.

“Tails had outgrown its existing structure. Rather than expanding Tails’s operational capacity on their own and putting more stress on Tails workers, merging with the Tor Project, with its larger and established operational framework, offered a solution,” the Tor Project explained the idea behind the merger.

The Tor Project provided the seed money for the first release of this OS, and Tor has since been donating to the project since then too. Both dev teams have also been collaborating for almost a decade. The Tails OS team lead says that finances and fundraising have been the “toughest part” of the project for the last 15 years, not the tech. And now the Tails OS team has access to the Tor Project’s $2 million budget, which should ensure sustainable development.

Tor hopes that merging operations with Tails will lead to new and upgraded solutions for network and operating system level security threats. The merger will also give Tor an opportunity to educate users about Tails, which is a more comprehensive solution than the simple browser that Tor currently offers. By the same token, Tails will now reach a wider audience because not everyone who’s familiar with Tor knows about Tails.

Source: The Tor Project