The anonymizing live system Tails is now available in version 4. 14. The Linux kernel has been upgraded to 5.9, the Debian “Buster” base to 10. 7.

Fundamental changes were not made, with the exception of the newly added support for ledger hardware wallets in the Electrum crypto-currency app. Only a few bugs were fixed and the Unifont font family was removed. However, in the course of some program updates, some critical security gaps were closed. The developers therefore recommend switching to Tails 4. 14 as soon as possible.

The Linux distribution Tails (“The Amnesic Incognito Live System “) is intended to help users to navigate the Internet anonymously (if possible), to circumvent state censorship and not to leave any traces on computers used. It also brings tools with it to protect sensitive files and digital communication from unauthorized access.

Tor Browser and Thunderbird are up to date The Tor-Browser-Version contained in Tails 4. 14 is almost dewy 10. 0.7. It was only published last Tuesday and is again based on Firefox ESR 78. 6. Among other things, a critical security hole was closed, which under certain conditions enabled unauthorized reading of memory, as well as four holes with a “high” rating. We have dedicated a separate message to the updates in Firefox ESR and Tor Browser:

The Thunderbird e-mail client is only almost up to date, which is included in version 78. 5.1. The current version would also be version 78. 6, with bug fixes identical to Firefox ESR.

More details on bug fixes and Co. can be found in the release announcement for Tails 4. 14 and the changelog linked therein.

Tails 4. 14: Update and installation Who Tails already from a USB stick can perform an automatic upgrade from version 4.2 onwards. How to perform a manual upgrade is explained in a post on the Tails website. Tails developers provide instructions for reinstallation for Linux, macOS and Windows. Caution: According to the release notes, existing persistent storage (and thus also the data stored there) will be lost if you perform a new installation instead of an upgrade.

Tails 4. 15 should be in the coming year, namely on 26. January 2021 appear. If you are curious, see the roadmap for future Tails versions for information about planned innovations.

(ovw)