Who needs Tails?
Tails is designed for people who:
- Want security and anonymity without having to configure anything manually
- Use public, shared, or potentially compromised computers
- Need a secure and portable solution to preserve their online identity
The goal of Tails OS
The ultimate purpose of Tails is simple:
“Privacy for anyone, anywhere.”
Therefore, its design combines anonymization technology, encryption with data ephemerality, offering robust defense against surveillance and digital tracking.
Design: Amnesia and privacy by default
Tails OS is built on the concept of Privacy Enhancing Live Distribution (PELD), an architecture designed to maximize digital privacy and anonymity without requiring technical expertise from its users.
The philosophy and principles behind Tails OS
The system is fully integrated with the Tor network, taking both its guarantees and limitations.
With Tails, you benefit from the IP privacy that Tor provides, however, it does not hide the use of Tor (except with the configuration of bridges, which are not enabled by default), nor does it protect communications metadata – even though the system includes software tools for removing metadata.
Furthermore, its design follows the principle of digital amnesia, in which the system does not record information on the hard drive. Thus:
- All RAM memory is cleared upon shutdown, preventing cold boot attacks.
- The use of encrypted storage (via LUKS1 or VeraCrypt 2) is encouraged for persistent data.
To see the complete list, see the Tails’ official documentation.
How to install Tails
What you need
- A USB drive with at least 8GB of memory
- A computer compatible with this USB, which has one of the following software architectures:
- Apple computer with Intel processor version 10.10 onwards. Note: Apple Silicon Processor (M1, M2, M3, M4) are not supported.
- PC with at least 2 GB of RAM and a 64-bit Intel or AMD CPU (x86_64/amd64) running on either Windows 7 or later or any Linux distributions capable of booting from USB (like Debian, Mint or Fedora)
- Permission to install software on the computer you are using to configure the pen-drive
- 1-2 hours of free time in a safe space
Note: To install Tails OS, you need to use a DVD or USB stick as a boot image and press the boot key. If you don't know which key on your PC boots the computer, look here.
Tails installation
Access the official documentation and follow the step-by-step instructions for your operating system.
Best practices when using Tails OS
Tails is secure, but it is not magic. To ensure your privacy, Nym recommends following these best practices:
- Download only an official ISO image before using it. Check the official Tails website for official versions.
- Prefer to run directly from USB (physical boot): If you run on a virtual machine, be aware that there may be traces on the host machine.
- Separate sessions by purpose: For example, confidential work vs. casual browsing, and restart the system between different activities.
- Do not use personal accounts: Such as those you already use outside of Tails — this may compromise your anonymity.
- Use HTTPS whenever possible: Read more about the security benefits and risks of encryption.
- Prefer Tor bridges if simply using Tor may pose risks in your location/country.
- Enable MAC spoofing when using public Wi-Fi networks, and only disable it in specific cases. This is already enabled by default in Tails.
- Enable and use encrypted persistence if you need to persist data between sessions. Use a long secure passphrase, and keep a backup of persistence if you use it.
- Shut down Tails properly to clear the RAM: In risky situations, remove the USB immediately after use.
- Use KeePassXC to manage passwords and avoid accumulating secrets you don't need.
- Remove metadata from files before sharing them (with MAT2 or equivalent).
Neither Tails nor Tor guarantee anonymity at the network level. Metadata is not encrypted, so follow these measures to avoid traffic correlation and identification.
Tails OS: Nym’s verdict
Without a doubt, Tails OS is one of the most robust and accessible tools for those who want genuine anonymity and privacy in an increasingly monitored world.
Its design, based on digital amnesia, full integration with the Tor network, and temporary execution via USB/DVD, makes it one of the rare operating systems designed to leave no trace.
Even so, it is important to understand that all technology has vulnerabilities. Although Tails reduces risks, it does not eliminate all surveillance vectors. Its effectiveness depends mainly on good user practices:
- Using reliable hardware
- Separating digital identities
- Avoiding personal accounts
- Verifying image signatures
- Adopting responsible browsing habits.
Importantly, neither Tails nor Tor offer network-level anonymity, allowing identification through traffic analysis and correlation. Therefore, it may be interesting to integrate the use of these tools with metadata anonymization technologies, such as Nym’s Noise Generating Mixnet accessible through NymVPN’s Anonymous Mode.
