Tails 5.13 Enables LUKS2 by Default for Persistent Storage and Encrypted Volumes

The next release will offer a migration plan from LUKS1 to LUKS2 for existing Persistent Storage.
Tails 5.13

The Tails 5.13 amnesic incognito live system has been released today as another monthly update to this Debian-based, privacy-oriented GNU/Linux distribution for those who want to stay anonymous online.

Tails 5.13 looks like a small release, but it introduces an important change to better protect your anonymity and keep your files secure at all times. Starting with this version, all newly generated Persistent Storage and LUKS encrypted volumes will be using version 2 of the Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS) disk encryption specification by default.

As you can imagine, LUKS2 offers stronger cryptography by default when compared to the first-generation LUKS specification. Unfortunately, this release doesn’t enable LUKS2 on existing Persistent Storage and LUKS encrypted volumes, but the development team announced plans to provide users a migration plan from LUKS1 to LUKS2 in the next release, Tails 5.14, due out in June 2023.

Other than that, the Tails 5.13 release ships with the well-known cURL command-line tool for downloading files over HTTPS, FTP, and other protocols by default, which developers say that it can also be used for online investigations as an alternative to GNU Wget.

“Everything you do with curl goes through the Tor network. If you want to use curl on a local network, use /usr/bin/curl instead,” said the devs.

Tails 5.13 also ships with the latest Tor Browser 12.0.6 anonymous web browser by default, which is based on Mozilla Firefox 102.11 ESR, as well as various other improvements, such as an updated Unsafe Browser feature, updated documentation, updated Welcome Screen, and several bug fixes that you can check out in the changelog.

If you want to protect your identity while surfing the Internet, avoid censorship, or do other tasks online without the fear of being watched, you can always rely on Tails, which was used by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Tails 5.13 is available for download right now from the official website as a live ISO image or a USB image. This release remains powered by the long-term supported Linux 6.1 LTS kernel series and ships with Linux 6.1.20 by default.

Last updated 11 months ago

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