[Tails-dev] Tails on compromised hardware

Delete this message

Reply to this message
Autor: sycamoreone
Data:  
A: The Tails public development discussion list
Assumpte: [Tails-dev] Tails on compromised hardware
In https://github.com/rootkovska/x86_harmful/blob/master/x86_harmful.md
Joanna Rutkowska remarked that:

> Tails has long been (falsely) advertised as being capable of
> providing security even on a previously compromised laptop^[E.g. a
> laptop which used to run e.g. Windows OS that got subsequently
> compromised.], as long as the adversary has not been allowed to
> tamper with the hardware ...


Tails still has a remark like this in the Warning page:

https://tails.boum.org/doc/about/warning/index.en.html#index1h1
> If the computer has been compromised by someone having physical
> access to it and who installed untrusted pieces of hardware (like a
> keylogger), then it might be unsafe to use Tails.


I am not sure how best to phrase this, but would suggest the following
patch:

--- a/wiki/src/doc/about/warning.mdwn
+++ b/wiki/src/doc/about/warning.mdwn
@@ -13,9 +13,10 @@ make a good use of it.
Tails does not protect against compromised hardware
===================================================

-If the computer has been compromised by someone having physical access
-to it and who installed untrusted pieces of hardware (like a
-keylogger), then it might be unsafe to use Tails.
+If the computer has been compromised by someone who installed
+untrusted pieces of hardware (like a keylogger), or was able to
+compromise low-level firmware or the BIOS, then it might be unsafe
+to use Tails.

<a id="untrusted_system"></a>

Cheers!