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[SOLVED] What is the best Linux for security?

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New Void

New Void

Commendable
Nov 27, 2016
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Hello,

I am a fool who uses Windows 10 with Tor (Opera when I want speed) and VeraCrypt, expecting quality security. Now the revelation of my blindness has come and I wish to improve the security of my PC so have researched and narrowed my decision down to using these softwares in conjunction:

  • Linux
  • Virtual machine (Virtual Box)
  • Whonix (Debian GNU/Linux based high security OS)

The problem is that I do not know which Linux is both easy to use yet secure (Ubuntu?) or does it not matter because I will be using Whonix? Any answers are greatly appreciated and if you have any alternatives or a simple guide for installation I would be massively grateful as everything looks SO COMPLICATED TO INSTALL) I will still use Windows 10 in a dual boot for gaming once I figure that out.

Thank you, very, very, very much.
 
Solution
Satan-IR
As USAFRet said it is not necessary to have VM installed to utilize a Linux distro.

Although running Linux in a VM you don't have the hassle of dual booting and the occasional no Windows boot and having to repair the boot records etc. You have to allocate some system resources like CPU cores, RAM and storage space to the VM which will be used only when the VM software and the actual guest OS are running. On the other hand some of the features or functionalities of the guest OS would not be fully operational in a VM, not like when it is installed as a stand alone OS or in dual boot with another OS.

Also a plus, as far as security is concerned, is that you can use the guest OS in the VM like a sandbox for testing some application or...
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USAFRet said:
The best security exists between your ears.

What do you plan to use this OS for?
What are you trying to protect against?
Click to expand...

Simply for browsing. I don't need it for much else but I detest the idea of corporations knowing everything about my searches and everything about what's download onto my system.
 
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New Void said:
Simply for browsing. I don't need it for much else but I detest the idea of corporations knowing everything about my searches and everything about what's download onto my system.
Click to expand...
Your search will be ultimately fruitless.

If you go to 'google' and search for something, they have to deliver that to an IP address.
Google knows this IP address.
Your ISP knows this IP address, because they give it to you.
Your ISP also knows the physical address and the billing address.
Both of which can be sort of tied to one or more humans. You.

If you "download" something...again, that has to be delivered to an IP address.
Again, you (mostly).
 
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Well...stop using windows, yeah...it leaks info like a bucket with no bottom in it; but, as Ret says, your best defense is between your ears. Any OS (including Linux), improperly used, can be compromised. The point is to use it correctly.
 
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AllanGH said:
Well...stop using windows, yeah...it leaks info like a bucket with no bottom in it; but, as Ret says, your best defense is between your ears. Any OS (including Linux), improperly used, can be compromised. The point is to use it correctly.
Click to expand...

The only reason I ever used Windows is because of gaming performance which is significantly greater and CAD software performance but I will swap to Linux now and learn the software properly. Though I still need a browser to use on the OS and with tor "compromised" what do I do...
 
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Well, since you are interested in security-enhanced distros....here you go:

Alpine: https://alpinelinux.org/downloads/
BlackArch: https://blackarch.org/downloads.html
Container: https://coreos.com/os/docs/latest/booting-with-iso.html
Discreet: https://www.privacy-cd.org/howto.html#get_pre
Heads: https://heads.dyne.org/download/
Ipredia: https://www.ipredia.org/os/download/
Kali: https://www.kali.org/downloads/
Kodachi: https://www.digi77.com/linux-kodachi/#Download
Openwall: https://www.openwall.com/Owl/
Parrot: https://www.parrotsec.org/download-security.php
Pure: https://www.pureos.net/download/
Qubes: https://www.qubes-os.org/downloads/
Subgraph: https://subgraph.com/sgos/download/index.en.html
Tails: https://tails.boum.org/install/index.en.html
Whonix: https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Download
 
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New Void said:
Solidworks, Fusion 360 and Modo for work.
Click to expand...

For one thing, don't do explicit or illegal downloading on a PC used for any kind of work is the safest thing you can do. 😊 Windows 10 with a decent AV package and common sense can be very safe provided you're patched around all the Intel issues at the moment. Linux by nature is safer but that doesn't mean it's invulnerable, browser related malware will affect all OS versions. On Linux getting Windows-based software to work under Wine still isn't 100% reliable and for something that pays the bills and meets deadlines you want nothing less than 100% reliability.

Fusion 360 does not support Linux
Solidworks does not support Linux
Modo supports Linux

There are alternative to Fusion and Solidworks on Linux but like any $3000 software package, not all things can be replaced or replicated across low-cost alternatives or freeware. I use Solidworks and Mastercam myself and the latest versions ported through Wine are rather buggy and tend to crash. It's possible to run a VM of Windows 10 in Linux and run those software packages but then you're still using Windows and you have a layer of complication and possible stability issues to contend with.
 
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Not sure now how I ever managed to surf problem free for 2.5 years straight from within Win10! :)

(If one surfs less than reputable areas, i.e., porn and movie streaming, free software patches/cracks, etc., your odds of infection likely increase by several thousand percent...; if one actually downloads anything from said sites, odds go up to almost 'certainly infected'. no matter your surfing habits, I'd get Ublock Origin for your browser, and a good AV/AM, like BitDefender, Malwarebytes Antimalware, or Kaspersky, etc..) Additionally, your browser itself can be patched with add-ons from WIndows Defender, and/or Kaspersky, etc..)

Ease of use? Use a Linux Mint VM within VIrtualBox....; Linux VMs are pretty much impervious to most of the typical junk out there, and, if something goes wrong, you can snapshot it back to the way it was, or, reload a new one in 3 minutes anyway...)
 
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mdd1963 said:
Not sure now how I ever managed to surf problem free for 2.5 years straight from within Win10! :)

(If one surfs less than reputable areas, i.e., porn and movie streaming, free software patches/cracks, etc., your odds of infection likely increase by several thousand percent...; if one actually downloads anything from said sites, odds go up to almost 'certainly infected'. no matter your surfing habits, I'd get Ublock Origin for your browser, and a good AV/AM, like BitDefender, Malwarebytes Antimalware, or Kaspersky, etc..) Additionally, your browser itself can be patched with add-ons from WIndows Defender, and/or Kaspersky, etc..)

Ease of use? Use a Linux Mint VM within VIrtualBox....; Linux VMs are pretty much impervious to most of the typical junk out there, and, if something goes wrong, you can snapshot it back to the way it was, or, reload a new one in 3 minutes anyway...)
Click to expand...

So if you have Bitdefender Professional Antivirus with Windows 10, there isn't really the point of Linux due to it's major incompatibilities and slower speeds? Also, just to point out, all my downloads and files are stored on Veracrypt.
 
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New Void said:
So if you have Bitdefender Professional Antivirus with Windows 10, there isn't really the point of Linux due to it's major incompatibilities and slower speeds? Also, just to point out, all my downloads and files are stored on Veracrypt.
Click to expand...
No, there IS a point to using Linux. Simply because it is a different OS with different capabilities and functions.
Some things are easier/better in Windows, some things easier/better in Linux.

If you're looking to one or the other as perfect incorruptible systems, you'll lose.

Personally, I use both. And you do too, whether you know it or not.
 
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I suppose
USAFRet said:
No, there IS a point to using Linux. Simply because it is a different OS with different capabilities and functions.
Some things are easier/better in Windows, some things easier/better in Linux.

If you're looking to one or the other as perfect incorruptible systems, you'll lose.

Personally, I use both. And you do too, whether you know it or not.
Click to expand...
I suppose I will just make a dual boot. Would you say a VM is necessary for Linux?
 
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USAFRet said:
No, a VM is absolutely not 'necessary'. It all depends on how you want to work with the system.

Dualboot = using one or the other.
VM = you can use both (or more) at the same time.
Click to expand...
Ah I see. But how much will running both OS in conjunction with each other impact general performance on my system compared to using dualboot?
 
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As USAFRet said it is not necessary to have VM installed to utilize a Linux distro.

Although running Linux in a VM you don't have the hassle of dual booting and the occasional no Windows boot and having to repair the boot records etc. You have to allocate some system resources like CPU cores, RAM and storage space to the VM which will be used only when the VM software and the actual guest OS are running. On the other hand some of the features or functionalities of the guest OS would not be fully operational in a VM, not like when it is installed as a stand alone OS or in dual boot with another OS.

Also a plus, as far as security is concerned, is that you can use the guest OS in the VM like a sandbox for testing some application or operations. If anything goes wrong you just have to load a snaphshot of the guest OS through a few clicks.

You can try out the distro you want for a while, if you like it move on to actual dual boot.
 
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Solution
Satan-IR said:
As USAFRet said it is not necessary to have VM installed to utilize a Linux distro.

Although running Linux in a VM you don't have the hassle of dual booting and the occasional no Windows boot and having to repair the boot records etc. You have to allocate some system resources like CPU cores, RAM and storage space to the VM which will be used only when the VM software and the actual guest OS are running. On the other hand some of the features or functionalities of the guest OS would not be fully operational in a VM, not like when it is installed as a stand alone OS or in dual boot with another OS.

Also a plus, as far as security is concerned, is that you can use the guest OS in the VM like a sandbox for testing some application or operations. If anything goes wrong you just have to load a snaphshot of the guest OS through a few clicks.

You can try out the distro you want for a while, if you like it move on to actual dual boot.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot!
 
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What you can do with VM's.
ReCLOlO.png


Linux, Windows, Windows, Windows Server, Host WIn 10.
Or whatever combination you want and your hardware can support.
 
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