Because Tails is a Linux based OS, and as far as I'm aware no antivirus designed to look for Linux malware currently exists, namely because of the fact that no such program is currently needed due to the extremely low amount of malware that exists for linux.
Comment by
Anonymous
— Sun 16 Dec 2012 09:20:53 PM CET
As recently discussed in another thread, viruses are not yet known to be significant concern for Linux users, and when you use Tails, you are using the Linux OS. There are plenty of cross-platform threats (often targeting browsers, media players, and pdf viewers) which do affect Linux users, but combating the most common ones is probably more a matter of patching software promptly and of using NoScript with IW/FF. (There are some obvious issues for users of live CD/DVDs regarding software patches, so it then becomes important to clarify whether or not you are using Tails on a R/O CD/DVD or a R/W USB stick.)
If you have in mind using Tails to check for malware on your Windows box using an unencrpted hard drive, another Linux live CD distribution like Knoppix or even BackTrack might be better suited. Even then, be aware that brand-name antivirus software is not open source or free as in free beer, so can't be included in Linux live CD editions. Many Linux live CD editions do come with clamav which can be useful to scan email attachments (many webservers run under Linux and use clamav for anti-spam and anti-malware scanning of incoming email, stuff which mainly affects their Windows using customers).
If you have in mind using Tails to check pdf files you download while surfing the web, as far as I know, the kind of tools which would be useful here are rarely if ever free as in Gnu, free as in beer, or available except by subscription to potential allies of our adversaries (a company whose business partners very likely include companies which sell information to spooks).
That said, I would be interested in a discussion of the pros and cons of including more stuff with future editions of Tails, on the theory that once you have passed beyond the threshold of what will fit on one CD, you might as well stuff a DVDs worth of software into the iso image. The question then becomes: what stuff is so useful for many Tails users as to merit inclusion? Or would it be better to focus on improving persistence and/or live install so that individual users can make their own choices to install anything from the Debian stable repositories which they want? Or is it reasonable to fear that many users will make dangerous choices, like installing network game software or torrent software?
Candidates might include
ECC algorithms for public key encryption
Serpent, Camellia, and Twofish algorithms for symmetric encryption
the best Debian/GNU available steganography tools
off-line dictionary and thesaurus with word lists for Tails-supported languages
some of the forensic tools most likely to be useful to Tails users
some of the statistical tools most likely to be useful to Tails users
statistical information on supported languages
Since Tails already includes i2p, the next step might be encouraging Tails users to participate if they wish in distributed computational efforts, particularly if these can be well-torified. Tails might even consider throwing a sop to our most lethal adversaries by including items which can be used in their "youth talent searches and enlistment" programs, which seek out high school students and undergraduate students with cryptanalytic/hacking talent, as a way to induce them into tolerating Tails as a "necessary evil".
Comment by
Anonymous
— Sun 16 Dec 2012 09:37:43 PM CET
For what purpose?
As recently discussed in another thread, viruses are not yet known to be significant concern for Linux users, and when you use Tails, you are using the Linux OS. There are plenty of cross-platform threats (often targeting browsers, media players, and pdf viewers) which do affect Linux users, but combating the most common ones is probably more a matter of patching software promptly and of using NoScript with IW/FF. (There are some obvious issues for users of live CD/DVDs regarding software patches, so it then becomes important to clarify whether or not you are using Tails on a R/O CD/DVD or a R/W USB stick.)
If you have in mind using Tails to check for malware on your Windows box using an unencrpted hard drive, another Linux live CD distribution like Knoppix or even BackTrack might be better suited. Even then, be aware that brand-name antivirus software is not open source or free as in free beer, so can't be included in Linux live CD editions. Many Linux live CD editions do come with clamav which can be useful to scan email attachments (many webservers run under Linux and use clamav for anti-spam and anti-malware scanning of incoming email, stuff which mainly affects their Windows using customers).
If you have in mind using Tails to check pdf files you download while surfing the web, as far as I know, the kind of tools which would be useful here are rarely if ever free as in Gnu, free as in beer, or available except by subscription to potential allies of our adversaries (a company whose business partners very likely include companies which sell information to spooks).
That said, I would be interested in a discussion of the pros and cons of including more stuff with future editions of Tails, on the theory that once you have passed beyond the threshold of what will fit on one CD, you might as well stuff a DVDs worth of software into the iso image. The question then becomes: what stuff is so useful for many Tails users as to merit inclusion? Or would it be better to focus on improving persistence and/or live install so that individual users can make their own choices to install anything from the Debian stable repositories which they want? Or is it reasonable to fear that many users will make dangerous choices, like installing network game software or torrent software?
Candidates might include
Since Tails already includes i2p, the next step might be encouraging Tails users to participate if they wish in distributed computational efforts, particularly if these can be well-torified. Tails might even consider throwing a sop to our most lethal adversaries by including items which can be used in their "youth talent searches and enlistment" programs, which seek out high school students and undergraduate students with cryptanalytic/hacking talent, as a way to induce them into tolerating Tails as a "necessary evil".