I’d like to install/run Kicksecure from my “EAGET USB 3.2 Solid State Pen Drive” as described here. (Im not set on Kicksecure, just read about it on privacyguides; open for suggestions! I just want something … well secure and easy to use.

… However, my Windows PC does not recognize the USB with Debian as a bootable medium.

What I did:

  1. Download debian-live-12.5.0-amd64-xfce
  2. Flash it to USB with balenaEtcher
  3. Try to boot from it in all possible ways

I also tried other Linux distributions like Mint and Ubuntu … nothing gets recognized on that USB, expect Tails. After it recognizes it as UEFI OS and I select Harddisk Mode.

Tails is amazing, love it! But I just don’t really need Tor, and mostly I need to use an App that will simply not connect via the Tor network and cannot be configured to do so.

Thank you very much 😊

Edit: Not everything can boot on windows I guess. But in my case Ubuntu suddenly could after turning off the PC and remove it from its power source.

  • henfredemars@infosec.pubEnglish
    0·
    7 months ago

    I question the legitimacy of Kicksecure because they have some strange design choices from their About page, but I digress. I understand that’s not your main concern at this time.

    Do you have a non-USB 3 drive available? I’ve seen some firmware have issues with the newer standards. Have you tried different ports?

    • birdcat@lemmy.mlOP
      0·
      7 months ago

      omg pls do digress! like i said, im reallly open to other distros.

      did try other ports.

      dont have another usb. i like this one cuz its fast and i dont want to buy a new one before being sure it will work.

      • henfredemars@infosec.pubEnglish
        1·
        7 months ago

        As someone who does do a lot of embedded work professionally, including custom kernel development and security research, I don’t think the developers of the distro really understand what they wish to accomplish. They don’t understand the technologies they are working with and how it fits into a good security posture. Let me cherry pick some examples from their website:

        Torified operating system (apt) upgrades

        Routing your upgrades through Tor seems really silly to me. Your packages are already authenticated using strong cryptography, and if you’re concerned about Debian core repositories signing packages with their keys just to target you in particular, use a mirror. There’s plenty of them. Debian maintainers won’t know what you’re downloading, and if you fear the maintainers as part of your threat model, then perhaps a Debian-based distribution that implicitly trusts those maintainers is the wrong choice.

        TCP Initial Sequence Numbers Randomization prevents TCP ISN-based CPU Information Leaks; see footnote.

        Okay… that seems rather contrived. They don’t cite any sources, and I’ve never heard of this being a security concern.

        Better encryption is achieved via preinstalled random number generators.

        Woah, “better” encryption! That’s a pretty extreme claim without establishing that there’s anything wrong with how Linux already generates random numbers, which has been extensively studied and attacked. I’d be way more shy of their tweaks introducing security bugs. Do not get creative with cryptography.

        I can’t take their work seriously, I’m sorry. It sounds like a lot of hope and not a whole lot of experience.

        • SteveTech@programming.devEnglish
          1·
          7 months ago

          TCP Initial Sequence Numbers Randomization prevents TCP ISN-based CPU Information Leaks;

          Seems to be related to this: https://github.com/Kicksecure/tirdad

          Although it looks like it’s literally just slightly possible to leak the load on the system. It’s hard to pull off, and isn’t precise enough to leak anything important.