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Tinfoil Hat Linux (THL) was a compact security-focusedLinux distribution designed for high security developed by The Shmoo Group. The first version (1.000) was released in February 2002. By 2013, it had become a low-priority project. Its image files and source are available in gzip format. THL can be used on almost any modern PC, as it requires an Intel 80386 or better, with at least 8 MB of RAM. The distribution fits on a single HD floppy disk. The small footprint provides additional benefits beyond making the system easy to understand and verify- the computer need not even have a hard drive, making it easier to "sanitize" the computer after use.
Documentation: Modified BSD license[1] Software: Original licences
Official website
tinfoilhat.shmoo.com
The logo of Tinfoil Hat is Tux, the Linux mascot, wearing a tinfoil hat.
The Shmoo Group Web site says "It started as a secure, single floppy, bootable Linux distribution for storing PGP keys and then encrypting, signing and wiping files. At some point it became an exercise in over-engineering."
Data retrieval — All temporary files are created on an encrypted ramdisk that is destroyed on shutdown. Even the GPG keyfile information can be stored encrypted on the floppy.
Keystroke monitoring — THL has gpggrid, a wrapper for GPG that lets you use a video game style character entry system instead of typing in your passphrase. Keystroke loggers get a set of grid points, instead of a passphrase.
Power usage and other side channel attacks — Under the Paranoid options, a copy of GPG runs in the background generating keys and encrypting random documents. This makes it harder to determine when real encryption is taking place.
An advantage of THL is that it can be used on virtually any modern PC using the x86 processor architecture. For example, one might install it on a computer that is kept in a locked room, not connected to any network, and used only for cryptographically signing keys. It is fairly easy to create the Tinfoil Hat booting floppy with Microsoft Windows. Verifying the checksum can be more tricky. The text of the documentation is salted with just a few jokes, which reinforces their humor by the stark contrast with the serious and paranoiac tone of the surrounding text- the very name pokes fun at itself, as Tinfoil Hats are commonly ascribed to paranoiacs as a method of protecting oneself from mind-control waves.
Tinfoil Hat Linux requires one to work in a text-only environment in Linux, i.e. starting straight off with a Bourne shell and the editor vi, not a graphical user interface. It uses BusyBox instead of the normal util-linux, the GNU coreutils (formerly known as fileutils, shellutils and textutils) and other common Unix tools. Tinfoil Hat also offers the GNU nano text editor.
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This article is about Tinfoil Hat Linux For the RAM based Linux distribution see Tin Hat Linux This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Tinfoil Hat Linux news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2017 This article s tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia See Wikipedia s guide to writing better articles for suggestions April 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations March 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Tinfoil Hat Linux THL was a compact security focused Linux distribution designed for high security developed by The Shmoo Group The first version 1 000 was released in February 2002 By 2013 it had become a low priority project Its image files and source are available in gzip format THL can be used on almost any modern PC as it requires an Intel 80386 or better with at least 8 MB of RAM The distribution fits on a single HD floppy disk The small footprint provides additional benefits beyond making the system easy to understand and verify the computer need not even have a hard drive making it easier to sanitize the computer after use Tinfoil Hat LinuxDeveloperShmoo Group citation needed OS familyLinux Unix like Working stateDiscontinuedSource modelOpen sourceLatest release2 0pre1 February 2002 20 years ago 2002 02 Platformsi386Kernel typeMonolithic kernelDefaultuser interfaceCLI Bourne shellLicenseDocumentation Modified BSD license 1 Software Original licencesOfficial websitetinfoilhat shmoo comThe logo of Tinfoil Hat is Tux the Linux mascot wearing a tinfoil hat The Shmoo Group Web site says It started as a secure single floppy bootable Linux distribution for storing PGP keys and then encrypting signing and wiping files At some point it became an exercise in over engineering Contents 1 Security features 2 Applications 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksSecurity features EditTinfoil Hat uses a number of measures to defeat hardware and software surveillance methods like keystroke logging video camera and TEMPEST Encryption GNU Privacy Guard GPG public key cryptography software is included in THL Data retrieval All temporary files are created on an encrypted ramdisk that is destroyed on shutdown Even the GPG keyfile information can be stored encrypted on the floppy Keystroke monitoring THL has gpggrid a wrapper for GPG that lets you use a video game style character entry system instead of typing in your passphrase Keystroke loggers get a set of grid points instead of a passphrase Power usage and other side channel attacks Under the Paranoid options a copy of GPG runs in the background generating keys and encrypting random documents This makes it harder to determine when real encryption is taking place Even reading the screen over the user s shoulder is very hard when Tinfoil Hat is switched to paranoid mode which sets the screen to a very low contrast Applications EditAn advantage of THL is that it can be used on virtually any modern PC using the x86 processor architecture For example one might install it on a computer that is kept in a locked room not connected to any network and used only for cryptographically signing keys It is fairly easy to create the Tinfoil Hat booting floppy with Microsoft Windows Verifying the checksum can be more tricky The text of the documentation is salted with just a few jokes which reinforces their humor by the stark contrast with the serious and paranoiac tone of the surrounding text the very name pokes fun at itself as Tinfoil Hats are commonly ascribed to paranoiacs as a method of protecting oneself from mind control waves Tinfoil Hat Linux requires one to work in a text only environment in Linux i e starting straight off with a Bourne shell and the editor vi not a graphical user interface It uses BusyBox instead of the normal util linux the GNU coreutils formerly known as fileutils shellutils and textutils and other common Unix tools Tinfoil Hat also offers the GNU nano text editor See also Edit Free and open source software portalList of LiveDistros Damn Small Linux Security focused operating system OpenBSDReferences Edit FAQ archived External links EditOfficial website Evilmutant com article about Tinfoil Hat Linux with screenshots Another evilmutant com article giving links to other media which picked up the previous article Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tinfoil Hat Linux amp oldid 1078652975, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
