In my neck of the woods you still to this day may hear someone use that saying. Originating in USA in the 1920s this idiom was a metaphor for someone particularly knowledgeable or expert in a field.
Maybe it was expertise in a literal field of onions originally where farmers knew stuff about growing crops, I don't know. In this instance I'm talking about another type of onion altogether, which it is nevertheless helpful to know about: The Onion Router.
The Onion Router (TOR) is itself a metaphorical reference to the private computing network providing the internet access in the TAILS operating system. This then is not a discussion about the production of competition grade onions. It is on the other hand about protecting free speech in a computer system. Think layers within layers similar to the onion from which it derives.
Most have heard of the system that drives a computer's basic functions: how it manages the files on it; how it knows where to store things; how to copy things and a breathtaking list of other functions, too. Windows by Bill Gates is just such an operating system, as is Debian Linux, Android on your phone and MacOS driving your Apple Mac. There are probably more out there than you realise and
TAILS is but another version. Each has its unique design purpose, hence the existing variations and TAILS is an acronym for The Amnesiac Incognito Live System, which should start giving you a clue as to what it's for. It's designed to “forget” things in case someone queries it after your use. It acts incognito as it interrogates the internet, never betraying its digital footprint and it is “live” in real time. If it's fair to say that Windows is designed, sometimes unsuccessfully, around user-friendliness, then TAILS has security as its focus.
Given that security is its unique selling point the big question is, who is TAILS for. It's free actually, but who needs the level of security that TAILS offers? The answer to that can probably best be answered by referring to the website where you can download the TOR browser: you have a right to search without being followed. Think of it as a level up from protecting your privacy with a Virtual Private Network, (VPN) and a couple more levels up from a solid computer with decent security on it that the majority of us use.
The right to free speech is a precious thing; however, as soon as you decide to sail your digital barque out onto the Information Super Highway's international waters, believe it or not there are many people interested in ensuring you are denied that right. There are those too, piratical types who want to steal from you. Your identity is protected by TAILS, but equally important are those people who really benefit from it or need it to keep themselves from an untimely appointment with the grave. These include: whistleblowers; that rare breed of journalist it seems these days, operating outside the main stream who could get arrested and killed for simply reporting truth to power; activists fighting for human rights; anyone who believes he's at risk of cyber attacks; those awkward cusses such as me who think that in principle I ought to be allowed a private life.
Some think that TAILS is a secretive geeky thing, reserved for those nefarious characters who surf the “dark web” and want to download extreme porn or snuff movies. I'm sure TAILS is open to abuse, such is human nature, but the TAILS project is on a mission to be as open and transparent as it can. Its documentation mentions a “Social Contract” that argues for a rationale promoting free access to ideas as a cornerstone of empowered, free societies. It speaks of transparency and demonstrates this by being entirely open about how it works.
Speaking of the Dark Web, perhaps it's useful to clarify what that is, too. So much ignorance surrounds it and misinformation abounds when you start seeing respectable news sites talking about it so pejoratively. You'd think listening to some of them that it's a sort of Transylvanian forest archetype in which vampires, trolls and Baba Yaga herself dwells, roaming about just waiting to devour you.
The Dark Web is classified as areas accessible digitally only through specialised software protocols rather than the bits we all usually see. The bits you see through the browser you're probably using to read this are accessible because they have an indexed address known to your Internet search engine,
(Google, Duck Duck Go, Bing among others). The Onion Router uses the Dark Web, as do others you have possibly come across such as Freenet, or I2P.
The thing is, as with all things the minute human beings get involved they can be used respectfully or disrespectfully. The Dark Web can be thought of as a subset of the Deep Web. The distinction between Dark and Deep is subtle, since they are technically and operationally identical. The distinction is that Deep is for respectable purposes where Dark is where the dodgy people go. Hence I suppose the journalistic frothing vapours manifested whenever it's mentioned. Ever wondered why you can't just put an inquiry into your browser to access your bank's finances? It's because it's not indexed and you can only access it via the Deep Web, so as you can see perfectly respectable people use it all the time.
Government though, often likes to think that “these things are for me, but not for thee”. TAILS thinks differently, as do all of us committed to open democracy.
Well that's the perspective, so how does it work? Everything you do on the Internet from TAILS passes exclusively through the Tor network. Tor encrypts and anonymizes your connection by passing it through 3-relays. Tor relays are servers operated by different people and organizations around the world. Without getting technical about it you might think your Internet Service Provider
can track your traffic in TAILS and yet it cannot. It can see data streaming, but interpreting it is nigh on impossible. Trying to track which way the data is headed is likewise impossible.
What then of the computer upon which you are working? What if there's a keylogger or spy program working in the background? Again there's no chance, because TAILS operates from a USB stick that you plug into a host computer. The computer has no record of its presence, because it doesn't ever access the computer's hard disk.
Your data therefore does a round trip through random nodes anywhere on earth with a relay, getting obfuscated at every station until it arrives wherever you sent it. The TOR browser operating inside TAILS on your USB handles the messy stuff. It's advisable to stick to TOR and not to use your favourite Firefox, Chrome or Opera browser although you can do so. But unfortunately these will leave traces of your activity on the more public web that we all know and love. There is a slight time overhead associated with this circuitous route though. You just need to be patient.
You can now see why a VPN is unnecessary, as is a virus checker since the OS is derived from Debian. What if you want to keep a file? You can't use the host computer, as I've just written. On your USB inside TAILS is a thing known as Persistent Storage which stores these encrypted and which by the way you can opt to turn on or off. Some people don't store information, they just use the anonymity that TAILS provides for communication. If the USB falls into the wrong hands the chances of decrypting data is extremely unlikely and as for your search history or communications again, there's no chance because there are no records
This does mean, as I'm sure you've already worked out that you can plug TAILS into any computer with a USB port and expect it to work and you'd be correct. What if you're one of those heroes operating inside an oppressive communist State and the Red Guard or similar crashes through the door? Simply pull the USB from the machine and nothing is lost.
There's much more to TAILS beside this, but is it really that simple? After all, if it's that good why aren't they selling TAILS discs at Tesco?
TAILS is committed to being free forever. You cannot sell it. The reason you don't see it everywhere is because firstly, as you can see from the types who would benefit from it the demand isn't great.
Secondly, although they've made it as user friendly as possible there is some faff involved in getting a clean installation. Additionally, every time an update comes down if you want to install it you sometimes need to go through the faff all over again when a very major upgrade is on the cards. This isn't true for minor ones, though.
Personally I think the faff is worth it, but it's only fair I give you a general outline. Remember that the faff I'm referring to is due to the need for security if it's to be of any use at all. Follow the protocols to the letter is my advice; it will become second nature if you use it enough.
You can install TAILS using any of Windows, Mac, Linux or for proper geeks a Command Line Interpreter on your favourite terminal program. Only but only, download from the official site at https://tails.net/index.en.html is my advice too.
To carry out the installation you will need a USB of 8GB minimum that you are prepared to devote solely to TAILS. You'll need a minimum version of OS on your computer; in Windows if you're using that it's Windows 7. It must have a minimum of 2GB of 64-bit RAM available. Unless you've got a memory in your head like an elephant then it's helpful to have your phone or printer available upon which you can read the instructions. Lastly you will have to set aside about an hour of your time. TAILS though small is also complex, reorganising your USB at a very low machine level.
If you do follow this up it's all there on the website; however, briefly the steps work like this. Firstly, download TAILS. Secondly, verify the installation using their helpful instructions. This is essential. It'd be a shame to go installing it only to find that some unscrupulous operator has put a nasty little program on your computer duping you into downloading a suspect version from a spoof website. It has happened, believe me. Thirdly, download balenaEtcher, which is the installer for TAILS. Fourthly, restart your new TAILS USB and you'll be into the TAILS operating system all safe and secure in no time.
Even for technophiles the process has become a lot easier over the years and the documentation is exhaustive. TAILS is, make no mistake, on the side of free speech. Those who believe in it alongside an open society are unafraid of it. Yes it can be abused and as the makers themselves say, it is good but it isn't magic. Stick to the rule.
James Gatehouse