TAILS OS and Secure Communications

Learning Objectives

1. Explain what TAILS OS is and why it exists
2. Boot TAILS from a USB drive and verify signatures
3. Combine air-gapped mesh communication with TAILS
4. Configure persistent encrypted storage
5. Use Kleopatra for GPG key management in TAILS
6. Make informed decisions about operational security trade-offs

Part 1: TAILS Introduction (30 min)

TAILS (The Amnesic Incognito Live System) is a portable OS that routes all traffic through Tor and leaves no trace on the host computer.

Download: tails.net/install

Part 2: Hands-On Boot and Setup (45 min)

1. Boot from USB (BIOS: F12/F2 for boot menu)
2. Configure persistent encrypted volume
3. Connect to Tor network
4. Use Kleopatra for GPG key generation and management

Part 3: Mesh + TAILS (45 min)

# Install meshtastic-cli in TAILS
pip install --user meshtastic

# Connect to device via USB
meshtastic --port /dev/ttyUSB0 --info

Cross-reference: GPG guide for key generation details.

Part 4: 5-Layer OpSec Model (30 min)

Part 5: Practical Scenarios (30 min)

• Journalist source protection
• Protest communications
• Disaster response when infrastructure is compromised

Part 6: Honest Assessment (15 min)

What TAILS + mesh can protect: message content, digital forensics, metadata (partially).

What it cannot protect: RF direction finding, physical surveillance, compelled disclosure, hardware implants.