Protection
What mechanisms do they use?
Trusted End Node Security, like its peers uses a modified kernel along with other tools such as DNSCrypt to prevent DNS spoofing by authenticating communications between the computer and the DNS resolver. It also includes an application to encrypt and decrypt individual files and complete directories, and works with DoD-issued Common Access Card (CAC) and Personal Identity Verification (PIV) smartcards for accessing restricted government websites.
Tails (The Amnesiac Incognito Live System) is built around Tor, which is an open network of anonymous servers that attempts to prevent your identification. The Tails distro also includes tools that help set up the network and a web browser with privacy-enhancing extensions with a proven track record. Additionally, Tails includes a couple of useful cryptographic tools to encrypt disks and online communication.
Next, there’s Whonix which is built on the concept of security by isolation. The distro comes in the form of two virtual machines. The idea behind this delivery is to isolate the environment you work in from the internet access point. On top of this, Whonix routes all internet traffic through Tor. Thanks to this setup, even if one of the machines is compromised, it would be impossible to find out your real IP.
Subgraph OS bills itself as “an adversary resistant computing platform”. It too anonymises all your Internet traffic by routing it via the Tor network. The distribution ships with a kernel hardened with patches from the Grsecurity project that makes the Subgraph OS more resistant to security vulnerabilities. To top it all, the distro runs many desktop applications inside a security sandbox to limit their risk in case of a breach.
You’ll find the same level of all-round protection in Linux Kodachi as well as it first routes all connections to the internet through a VPN before passing them to the Tor network. Kodachi also bundles a collection of tools to easily change identifying information such as the Tor exit country as well as reset your DNS servers and more—all with a single click. The distro also encrypts the connection to the DNS resolver and includes well-known cryptographic and privacy tools to encrypt all your offline files, emails and instant messaging. When you are done using it, Kodachi also removes traces of its use from the computer during shutdown.