Member Avatar for elptuxman

Have downloaded and burned TAILS both as a DVD and a booting USB stick. Other than a marked sluggishness while 'setting the local time,' the system provides both PC look-alike and built-in TOR browser (anomymity.)
I am curious to read what other user's experiences have been with this system - I am planning to take it in my upcoming Italy & Spain tour. Would it be hard to use on cybercafes? (Not taking a laptop.)

  • 3 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 209 Views
  • 22 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by cereal

Dani AI

Generated

Short practical summary for ’s travel question and the follow-ups from and .

Tails really does aim to leave no traces by default — everything in a normal session disappears at shutdown — but that amnesia only applies to the OS itself, not to the physical machine you booted from. (tails.net)

The single biggest risk in a cybercafé is a compromised host (hardware keyloggers, tampered ports, or infected firmware). Tails’ docs explicitly warn that no OS can fully protect you if the computer’s hardware or firmware are altered. Practical mitigations: avoid typing secrets (use a password manager and paste), use the on-screen keyboard if you suspect a keylogger, only install Tails from a machine you trust, and don’t plug the Tails USB into an OS that’s already running. (tails.net)

Expect real-world boot/connect friction on random café PCs: you may need to use the Boot Menu or change UEFI/BIOS settings to boot from your stick, and some machines or Secure Boot setups refuse to start external OSes. Captive portals (login pages for public Wi‑Fi) require Tails’ Unsafe Browser, which does not use Tor — sign in, then immediately close it. Also be aware MAC‑address anonymization is on by default in Tails but sometimes needs to be disabled when a venue ties access to a known MAC; the docs explain when to keep it on or turn it off. (tails.net)

Quick prep checklist before travel: verify Tails’ download and signatures; make a backup USB and (optionally) an encrypted persistent volume only for Wi‑Fi creds if you must; rehearse starting Tails on a couple of different machines; ask the café staff for permission and whether their network requires registration (as noted by ); never assume a public PC is clean. These steps will cut the most common problems and keep you safer in the field. (tails.net)

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for rubberman

Sorry, but I'm not familiar with this distribution. Taking a bootable USB stick is not a bad idea. It should work fine in foreign internet cafes, but until you try you won't know for sure. Before you boot the thumb drive, do check with the cafe proprietors as to whether they can let you do this. There may be local/national regulations that will put them in legal hot water.

FWIW, I have used Unetbootin generated thumb drive Linux distributions in Internet cafes in Mexico without problem - and I DID ask if it was ok to do so! :-)

Member Avatar for cereal

Aside note: when you go to an internet cafe here in Italy, bring an ID document with you: the operator has to register each user, this is requested by our legislation. For this reason, you cannot use your own laptop, nor your usb distribution: because in these cases the user has the power to fake the mac address, can scan the lan... and can make it difficult to identify the author of an illegal action.

There are exceptions: if you use the free wifi access point of a business, whose primary activity is not the provision of internet access (as a restaurant, an airport, a train), then the admins are not obliged to request your documents. But in this case you need a laptop.

Bye.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.