Tails v6.0: Important Security and Usability Improvements

• "We are very excited to present you Tails 6.0, the first version of Tails based on Debian 12 (Bookworm) and GNOME 43. Tails 6.0 brings new versions of most of the software included in Tails as well as several important security and usability improvements," announced the project.

What's new

• Error detection on the Persistent Storage. "Tails 6.0 warns you about errors when reading or writing from your Tails USB stick. These alerts can help you diagnose hardware failures on your USB stick and backup your Persistent Storage before it's too late."
• Mount external devices automatically. "When you plug in an external storage device, a USB stick or an external hard disk, Tails 6.0 mounts it automatically. If the storage device contains an encrypted partition, Tails 6.0 offers you to unlock the encryption automatically. This feature also simplifies how to unlock VeraCrypt encrypted volumes."
• Protection against malicious USB devices. "If an attacker manages to plug a malicious USB device in your computer, they could run software that breaks the security built in Tails without your knowledge. Tails 6.0 ignores any USB device that is plugged in while your screen is locked. You can only use new USB devices if they are plugged in while the screen is unlocked."
• Dark Mode and Night Light. Tails v6.0 now comes packaged with a default light mode, dark mode, night light mode, and a combination of both the dark mode and night light mode.
• Easier screenshots and screencasts. "GNOME 43 introduces a new shortcut in the system menu that makes it easier to take a screenshot or record a screencast."
• Easier Gmail in Thunderbird. "Thanks to changes in both Thunderbird and Gmail, it's much easier to configure a Gmail account in Thunderbird in Tails 6.0."
• Diceware passphrases in 5 more languages. "When creating a Persistent Storage, suggested passphrases are now also generated in Catalan, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish."
• Fix several issues with special characters and non-Latin scripts in the screen keyboard. (#18076).

Tails 6.0 updates most of the applications included in Tails, among others:

• Tor Browser to 13.0.10.
• Electrum from 4.0.9 to 4.3.4
  • Improve support for the Lightning protocol and hardware wallets.
• KeePassXC from 2.6.2 to 2.7.4
  • Add entry tags.
  • Support dark mode.
  • Redesign history view.
• Metadata Cleaner from 1.0.2 to 2.4.0
  • Redesign the whole user interface.
  • Support dark mode.
  • Add support for AIFF and HEIC files.
• Text Editor from gedit to gnome-text-editor
  • Support dark mode.
• Inkscape from 1.0.2 to 1.2.2
• Audacity from 2.4.2 to 3.2.4
• Gimp from 2.10.22 to 2.10.34
• Kleopatra from 4:20.08 to 4:22.12

Removed features

• Remove the icons on the desktop.The extension of GNOME Shell that we used to provide this feature is not well integrated into GNOME and created other problems. (#19920)
• Remove the item Wipe and Wipe available disk space from the shortcut menu of the Files browser.Secure deletion is not reliable enough on USB sticks and Solid-State Drives (SSDs) for us to keep advertising this feature.We updated our documentation on secure deletion to new recommendations: use encrypted volumes, overwrite the entire device, or disintegrate it physically.
• Remove the item Remove metadata from the shortcut menu of the Files browser.The developers of MAT2, the metadata removal library used by Metadata Cleaner are not providing this option anymore.
• Remove GtkHashYou can still install GtkHash as Additional Software.

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