Today the Tor Project, a global non-profit developing tools for online privacy and anonymity, and Tails, a portable operating system that uses Tor to protect users from digital surveillance, have joined forces and merged operations. Incorporating Tails into the Tor Project's structure allows for easier collaboration, better sustainability, reduced overhead, and expanded training and outreach programs to counter a larger number of digital threats. In short, coming together will strengthen both organizations' ability to protect people worldwide from surveillance and censorship.

Pooling resources to better serve a global community

Countering the threat of global mass surveillance and censorship to a free Internet, Tor and Tails provide essential tools to help people around the world stay safe online. By joining forces, these two privacy advocates will pool their resources to focus on what matters most: ensuring that activists, journalists, other at-risk and everyday users will have access to improved digital security tools.

In late 2023, Tails approached the Tor Project with the idea of merging operations. 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. By joining forces, the Tails team can now focus on their core mission of maintaining and improving Tails OS, exploring more and complementary use cases while benefiting from the larger organizational structure of The Tor Project.

This solution is a natural outcome of the Tor Project and Tails' shared history of collaboration and solidarity. 15 years ago, Tails' first release was announced on a Tor mailing list, Tor and Tails developers have been collaborating closely since 2015, and more recently Tails has been a sub-grantee of Tor. For Tails, it felt obvious that if they were to approach a bigger organization with the possibility of merging, it would be the Tor Project.

"Running Tails as an independent project for 15 years has been a huge effort, but not for the reasons you might expect. The toughest part wasn't the tech–it was handling critical tasks like fundraising, finances, and HR. After trying to manage those in different ways, I’m really relieved that Tails is now under the Tor Project’s wing. In a way, it feels like coming home."

–intrigeri, Team Lead Tails OS, The Tor Project

Welcoming new users and partners into our communities

Whether it’s someone seeking access to the open web or facing surveillance, Tor and Tails offer complementary protections. While Tor Browser anonymizes online activity, Tails secures the entire operating system–from files to browsing sessions. For journalists working in repressive regions or covering sensitive topics, Tor and Tails are often used as a set to protect their communications and safeguard their sources. The merger will lead to more robust treatment of these overlapping threat models and offer a comprehensive solution for those who need both network and system-level security in high-risk environments.

It will also open up broader training and outreach opportunities. Until now, Tor’s educational efforts have primarily focused on its browser. With Tails integrated into these programs, we can address a wider range of privacy needs and security scenarios. Lastly, this merger will lead to increased visibility for Tails. Many users familiar with Tor may not yet know about Tails OS. By bringing Tails within the Tor Project umbrella, we can introduce this powerful tool to more individuals and groups needing to remain anonymous while working in hostile environments.

"Joining Tor means we’ll finally have the capacity to reach more people who need Tails. We've known for a long time that we needed to ramp up our outreach, but we just didn’t have the resources to do so"

–intrigeri

"By bringing these two organizations together, we’re not just making things easier for our teams, but ensuring the sustainable development and advancement of these vital tools. Working together allows for faster, more efficient collaboration, enabling the quick integration of new features from one tool to the other. This collaboration strengthens our mission and accelerates our ability to respond to evolving threats."

– Isabela Fernandes, Executive Director, The Tor Project

Your support will go a long way to support this merge. Please consider making a donation to the Tor Project

If you'd like to earmark your donation specifically for Tails activities, you can continue to do so through Tails' donation page until further notice.

To learn more about how we are integrating our donation infrastructures and how your funds will be used, please refer to our updated Donation FAQ.

Highlights

In August:

• We continued making it easier for Tails users to recover from the most common failure modes:

  • we released the first iteration of our design to detect a partition table corruption and advise users about it.

  • we worked on implementing detection of the Persistent Storage corruption on a Tails USB stick, reporting it to users, and repairing it.

• We resumed our work to design a better backup feature for the Persistent Storage. We integrated the valuable feedback received in July on our design proposal for the improved backup feature (mockups on Gitlab).

• We published instructions for installing Dangerzone in Tails. Dangerzone will help Tails users convert suspicious documents to safe PDFs. This was a significant milestone: this is the first time that we have recommended installing a 3rd party package that is not available in Debian.

Releases

📢 We released Tails 6.6!

In Tails 6.6, we brought:

• improved hardware support for graphics, WiFi etc.

• an updated Tor Browser and fixed issues with connecting to the Tor network using default bridges

• fixes that make the Persisten Storage more robust.

To know more, check out the Tails 6.6 release notes and the changelog.

Metrics

Tails was started more than 767,542 times this month. That's a daily average of over 24,759 boots.

Cambios y actualizaciones

• Update Tor Browser to 13.5.3.

• Update Thunderbird to 115.15.0.

• Update OnionShare from 2.2 to 2.6, which includes a feature to create an anonymous chat room.

  

  

Problemas arreglados

• Keep the firewall on even during shutdown. (#20536)

• Stop reporting an error when starting an old Tails USB stick with a system partition of 2.5 GB. (#20519)

Para más detalles, lee nuestro registro de cambios.

Problemas conocidos

Shim SBAT verification error

If you get the following error message when starting your regular Linux operating system, then it means that your Linux operating system is outdated.

Verifying shim SBAT data failed: Security Policy Violation
Something has gone seriously wrong: SBAT self-check failed: Security Policy Violation

1. Edit your UEFI settings to disable Secure Boot.

   With Secure Boot disabled, your regular Linux operating system should start again.

   To learn how to edit the BIOS or UEFI settings, search for the user manual of the computer on the support website of the manufacturer.

2. Update your regular Linux operating system.

3. Try to enable Secure Boot again in your UEFI settings.

   If your regular Linux operating system still doesn't start, then disable Secure Boot again. You can try to enable Secure Boot again in the future.

   It might take several months for your Linux distribution to provide updates before you can enable Secure Boot again.

Obtener Tails 6.7

Para actualizar Tails y mantener tu Almacenamiento Persistente

• Las actualizaciones automáticas están disponibles desde Tails 6.0 o posterior hasta la versión 6.7.

• Si no puedes hacer una actualización automática, o si Tails falla al iniciar después de una actualización automática, intenta hacer una actualización manual.

To install Tails 6.7 on a new USB stick

Sigue nuestras instrucciones de instalación:

• Instalar desde Windows

• Instalar desde macOS

• Instalar desde Linux

• Instalar desde Debian o Ubuntu usando la línea de comandos y GnuPG

Para sólo descargar

Si no necesitas instrucciones de instalación o actualización, puedes descargar Tails 6.7 directamente:

• Para memorias USB (imagen USB)

• Para DVD y máquinas virtuales (imagen ISO)

Highlights

• On our first month back from vacation, we continued making it easier to recover from common failure modes without requiring technical expertise:

  • we drafted an implementation of our design to detect, report, and repair corruption of the Persistent Storage

  • we finished implementing our plans to improve the detection of and recovery from low-memory situations. Going from prototype to implementation, this work was a great example of the 90-90 rule in action: the first 90% of the work consumed the first 90% of our time, and the remaining 10% accounted for the other 90% of our time

• Over the past year, we have been close downstream of the Tor Project's design and implementation of Arti. This month, we reached a significant milestone in our collaboration: we prepared a prototype of Tails in which multiple applications use Arti.

• freiheitsfoo, one of our longest supporters, renewed their sponsorship of Tails! Welcome aboard for another year of resisting censorship and surveillance online!

Releases

📢We released Tails 6.5!

In Tails 6.5, we brought:

• an updated Tor Browser with cool letterboxing improvements, and the latest Debian (12.6)

• repairs to first-boot partitioning that many users were facing issues with after Tails 6.4

• fixes to connecting via mobile broadband, LTE, and PPPoE DS. This has been a persistent issue in the Tails 6 series so far.

To know more, check out the Tails 6.5 release notes and the changelog.

Metrics

Tails was started more than 779,262 times this month. That's a daily average of over 25,946 boots.

Cambios y actualizaciones

• Update Tor Browser to 13.5.2.

• Update Thunderbird to 115.14.0.

• Update many firmware packages. This improves the support for newer hardware: graphics, Wi-Fi, and so on.

• Detect new types of errors when resizing the system partition fails (the first time Tails is started) and report the following error message.

  Something went wrong when starting your Tails USB stick for the first time:
  resizing the system partition failed
  
  It will be impossible to create a Persistent Storage or apply automatic upgrades.

  Affected users can try to install Tails again or use a different USB stick.

Problemas arreglados

Almacenamiento Persistente

• Increase the maximum waiting time to 4 minutes when unlocking the Persistent Storage before returning an error. (#20475)

• Made the creation of the Persistent Storage more robust after starting a Tails USB stick for the first time. (#20451)

• Prevent the Persistent Storage settings from freezing after opening a link to the documentation. (#20438)

• Prevent Additional Software from crashing when installing virtual packages. (#20477)

Networking

• Fix connecting to the Tor network using default bridges. (#20467)

• Allow enabling multiple network interfaces again. (#20128)

Tails Cloner

• Remove 30 seconds of waiting time when installing by cloning. (#20131)

Para más detalles, lee nuestro registro de cambios.

Obtener Tails 6.6

Para actualizar Tails y mantener tu Almacenamiento Persistente

• Automatic upgrades are available from Tails 6.0 or later to 6.6.

• Si no puedes hacer una actualización automática, o si Tails falla al iniciar después de una actualización automática, intenta hacer una actualización manual.

Para instalar Tails 6.6 en una nueva memoria USB

Sigue nuestras instrucciones de instalación:

• Instalar desde Windows

• Instalar desde macOS

• Instalar desde Linux

• Instalar desde Debian o Ubuntu usando la línea de comandos y GnuPG

Para sólo descargar

If you don't need installation or upgrade instructions, you can download Tails 6.6 directly:

• Para memorias USB (imagen USB)

• Para DVD y máquinas virtuales (imagen ISO)

Today, we added documentation on our website to install Dangerzone in Tails.

When you receive untrusted documents, for example, email attachments, Dangerzone allows you to convert them into safe PDFs before opening.

Dangerzone is particularly useful for journalists who might receive dangerous documents from anonymous sources or download them from the Internet.

Dangerzone is an essential tool and is built by great people. It was first written by Micah Lee to protect investigative journalists while working at The Intercept. Dangerzone is now maintained by Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit that protects public-interest journalism. Edward Snowden and Laura Poitras are on its Board of Directors.

It's totally the kind of software that aligns with our mission. The only reason why we are not including Dangerzone in Tails by default is because Dangerzone is too big and not available in Debian.

So, we collaborated with Alex Pyrgiotis from Freedom of the Press Foundation to make it as easy as possible to install Dangerzone in Tails as Additional Software. The setup requires using the command line, but, after that, Dangerzone will install automatically every time you start Tails.

Dangerzone will allow more investigative journalists to use the safe environment that Tails provides when manipulating sensitive documents.

It's also the first time that we recommend installing a 3rd party package that is not available in Debian. We know that a lot of software that would be useful for our users is not readily available in Debian. If this first experiment is successful, we might document more such packages.

Cambios y actualizaciones

• Make installation with Tails Cloner 30 seconds faster. (!1588)

• Update Tor Browser to 13.5.1, including improved letterboxing.

• Update Debian to 12.6.

Problemas arreglados

• Fix preparation for first use often breaking legacy BIOS boot and creation of Persistent Storage. (#20451)

• Fix language of Tor Browser when started from Tor Connection. (#20318)

• Fix connection via mobile broadband, LTE, and PPPoE DSL. (#20291, #20433)

Para más detalles, lee nuestro registro de cambios.

Problemas conocidos

• It is impossible to connect using the default Tor bridges already included in Tails. (#20467)

  To use a default bridge in Tails 6.5, scan the QR code of one of these bridges:

  

  If this fails, configure a custom bridge.

Get Tails 6.5

Para actualizar Tails y mantener tu Almacenamiento Persistente

• Automatic upgrades are available from Tails 6.0 or later to 6.5.

• Si no puedes hacer una actualización automática, o si Tails falla al iniciar después de una actualización automática, intenta hacer una actualización manual.

To install Tails 6.5 on a new USB stick

Sigue nuestras instrucciones de instalación:

• Instalar desde Windows

• Instalar desde macOS

• Instalar desde Linux

• Instalar desde Debian o Ubuntu usando la línea de comandos y GnuPG

Para sólo descargar

If you don't need installation or upgrade instructions, you can download Tails 6.5 directly:

• Para memorias USB (imagen USB)

• Para DVD y máquinas virtuales (imagen ISO)

Highlights

• The European summer is here, and with it are summer holidays! We took some time off for some quality rest and recreation. How we vacationed: music festivals in Milan, hiking in the Alps, the Sierra Nevada, and the High Sierra, and biking in the Pyrenees. We do love the mountains! ⛰️

• But before we went away for some quality R&R, we continued making it easier for Tails users to recover from the most common failure modes without requiring technical expertise:

  • We finalized a design to detect corruption of the Persistent Storage on a Tails USB stick, reporting it to users, and repairing it.

  • We made incremental progress towards warning Tails users when they have low available memory. We don't detect all the problematic cases yet but, when we do, GNOME gently notifies the user.

• We have been working on a new user journey for backups. In June, we finished designing all interfaces and solicited feedback. The proposal was well received by 2 volunteers who have contributed code related to backups.

Releases

📢 We released Tails 6.4!

In Tails 6.4, we brought:

• even stronger cryptographic protections, as Tails now stores a random seed on the Tails USB stick
• fixes to make unlocking the Persisted Storage smoother
• more reliable installation of Additional Software, due to a switch to using HTTPS addresses instead of onion addresses for the Debian and Tails APT repositories

To know more, check out the Tails 6.4 release notes and the changelog.

Metrics

Tails was started more than 775,377 times this month. That's a daily average of over 25,946 boots.

Nuevas funcionalidades

Random seed

Tails now stores a random seed on the USB stick to strengthen all cryptography.

Having a secure random number generator is critical to some of the cryptography used in Tails, for example, in the Persistent Storage, Tor, or HTTPS.

This random seed is stored outside of the Persistent Storage so that all users can benefit from stronger cryptography.

Cambios y actualizaciones

• Switch to using HTTPS addresses instead of an onion addresses for the Debian and Tails APT repositories. This makes the Additional Software feature more reliable.

• Update Tor Browser to 13.0.16.

• Update the Tor client to 0.4.8.12.

• Update Thunderbird to 115.12.0.

Problemas arreglados

• Fix more issues when unlocking the Persistent Storage. (#20020, #20344, #19913)

• Fix connecting to a mobile broadband network on some hardware. (#20291)

• Enable again the PDF reader of Thunderbird that we disabled in Tails 6.3 for security.

• Improve the error message of Tails Cloner when the target USB stick cannot be unmounted because it is being used. (#19253)

• Fix the homepage of Tor Browser when using the New Identity feature. This removes the error message Tor Browser blocked your homepage from loading. (#20381)

• Remove the redundant dialog when unlocking a VeraCrypt volume using the Unlock VeraCrypt Volumes utility. (#20281)

Para más detalles, lee nuestro registro de cambios.

Get Tails 6.4

Para actualizar Tails y mantener tu Almacenamiento Persistente

• Automatic upgrades are available from Tails 6.0 or later to 6.4.

  Puedes reducir el tamaño de la descarga de futuras actualizaciones automáticas haciendo una actualización manual a la última versión.

• Si no puedes hacer una actualización automática, o si Tails falla al iniciar después de una actualización automática, intenta hacer una actualización manual.

To install Tails 6.4 on a new USB stick

Sigue nuestras instrucciones de instalación:

• Instalar desde Windows

• Instalar desde macOS

• Instalar desde Linux

• Instalar desde Debian o Ubuntu usando la línea de comandos y GnuPG

Para sólo descargar

If you don't need installation or upgrade instructions, you can download Tails 6.4 directly:

• Para memorias USB (imagen USB)

• Para DVD y máquinas virtuales (imagen ISO)

Highlights

• We met IRL! It has been close to 1.5 years since we devised our 3-year strategy goals. We reflected on our progress, concluded that we had a mixed bag of results, and emerged with a good sense of what's needed to be done. And all this while discovering the wonders of vegan Francesinha and wine 🌞

• Thanks to our volunteer translations teams, Tails' language diversity continued improving alongside the language support we added in Tails 6.2.

  Our French, Spanish, and Catalan teams reported more than 50 small issues on the content of our website, typos, inconsistency with the tools, and accessibility issues. We fixed all of them. In the process of this lovely synergy, we also identified opportunities to make this collaboration through Weblate smoother in the future.

• And, we also completed a bunch of home improvement projects:

  • We added an animation when expanding the collapsible sections in our warnings page. Changes should be more noticeable now. (Gitlab issue)

  • We also added a "Security/Fixed" pill on security advisories that are fixed. As an example, see our advisory on "Possible remote attack on onion services".

  • We also fixed the display of SVG images when JavaScript is disabled. Now, we are using PNG by default and adding some JavaScript to enhance images back to SVG when useful. (Gitlab issue)

  • We replaced the CSS framework Bootstrap on our website with custom and modern CSS code. The most challenging page to convert was our donation page, and the resulting code is 20% smaller.

Releases

📢 6.3 is out!

In Tails 6.3, you will find:

• improvements for configuring new printers
• Restart later as the default button at the end of an automatic upgrade; earlier it was Restart now
• and as usual, an updated Tor Browser

To know more, check out the Tails 6.3 release notes and the changelog.

Metrics

Tails was started more than 824,834 times this month. That's a daily average of over 27,495 boots.