HiddenVM

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<a href="#About"><img src="./misc/hiddenvm-logo-full.svg" width="100%" height="184pt"></a>
<p align="center"><a href="#About"><img src="https://dummyimage.com/1x45/ffffff/ffffff.png" /></a> <a href="#About"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/aforensics/HiddenVM.svg?color=%2344cc11ff&label=version" /></a>&nbsp; <a href="#About"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/bf135a9cea09d0ea4bba410582c0e70ec8222736/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f62616467652f4c6963656e73652d47504c25323076332d626c75652e737667" /></a>&nbsp; <a href="#About"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/aforensics/HiddenVM/total?color=%236b2981" /></a>&nbsp; <a href="#About"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/stars/aforensics/HiddenVM.svg?label=github%20stars" /></a> <a href="#About"><img src="https://dummyimage.com/1x45/ffffff/ffffff.png" /></a></p>

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<h2><a href="#About">HiddenVM</a></h2>

PLEASE NOTE: If at any time Tails pushes an unexpected update, and HiddenVM is not yet updated for it, and you are stuck with a new Tails and no working HiddenVM version, you can re-download and temporarily use an earlier version of Tails until HiddenVM is updated. There are archived direct HTTP download mirrors of Tails images <https://web.archive.org/https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/tails/stable/>, archived official torrents with PGP signatures <https://web.archive.org/https://tails.net/torrents/files/>, or third party archives at linuxtracker.org or fosstorrents.com etc. (Always verify third party torrents with archived official PGP sigs for safety.) Unless there is a known security vulnerability patched by the new Tails which actually affects how you use Tails, doing a temporary downgrade is not unsafe. You aren't necessarily unsafe by using older-than-one-month-old Tails software for a short time. Thank you for your patience, and stay safe.

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About

HiddenVM is an innovation in computing privacy.

Imagine you're entering a country at the airport. The border agents seize your laptop and force you to unlock it so that they can violate your privacy, treat you like a criminal, and insult your humanity <https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/epblc8/australian_border_employee_hands_phone_back_to/>_. Is that the world you want to live in?

Whether you use Windows, macOS or Linux, now there's a tech solution for better privacy: HiddenVM.

HiddenVM is a simple, one-click, free and open-source Linux application that allows you to run Oracle's open-source VirtualBox software <https://virtualbox.org>_ on the Tails operating system <https://tails.net/>_.

This means you can run almost any OS as a VM inside the most anti-forensic computing environment in the world. Works where Tails does.

The VM will even connect to full-speed pre-Tor Internet by default, while leaving the Tor connection in Tails undisturbed.

To ensure anti-forensic deniability of your VMs, you can place your persistent HiddenVM installation - containing all VirtualBox binaries, VMs, and HiddenVM itself - in a hidden VeraCrypt volume <https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Hidden%20Volume.html>_\ , and only mount it in the amnesic Tails.

If you set it up correctly, when your computer is turned off all anyone can plausibly see is a blank Tails USB and a 'wiped' hard drive full of meaningless data, or a default booting decoy OS in a partition that you can create.

How does it feel to have no trace of your entire operating system - whether it's Windows, macOS or Linux - ever touch your hard drive? Now you can find out.

HiddenVM: insanely private!

Installation and usage

Before you install:

• Always have two Tails USB sticks, with one as a backup of the latest working Tails for your current HiddenVM.

• Always upgrade Tails on your second stick, in case the new Tails doesn't work with your current HiddenVM.

• Always give us time to troubleshoot and fix our code to make it work with a new Tails version. Thank you for your patience.

• This will give you stability and prevent you from being locked out of your HiddenVM at any point due to a Tails upgrade.

Install:

• Boot into Tails <https://tails.net>_ on your computer and set an admin password <https://tails.net/doc/first_steps/welcome_screen/administration_password/index.en.html>_ for your session.

• Do NOT use <#why-shouldnt-i-use-tails-official-persistent-volume-feature>_ Tails' persistent volume feature <hhttps://tails.net/doc/persistent_storage/index.en.html>_.

• Create and mount a deniable, secure storage environment on internal or external media such as a VeraCrypt <https://veracrypt.fr/en>_ volume.

• \ Download our latest release ZIP <https://github.com/aforensics/HiddenVM/releases>_\ and extract the archive.

• Run our AppImage file in the Files browser.

• Choose to store HiddenVM in your secure storage and it will download all binaries to launch VirtualBox.

Usage:

• After initially installing HiddenVM you can use it offline where each VirtualBox launch takes about 2 minutes.

How can I trust the HiddenVM AppImage file?

You don't have to. Inspect the AppImage code:

• Open a Terminal and cd to the folder containing our AppImage.

• Run mkdir inspect && sudo mount HiddenVM-*-x86_64.AppImage inspect -o offset=188456

• Every file in the mounted folder can be inspected with a text editor. To search for IP addresses or web domains that HiddenVM could try to phone home to and violate your privacy, use Searchmonkey <http://searchmonkey.embeddediq.com>_ (\ sudo apt install searchmonkey\ ) to recursively search for \.\S in the mounted folder's files.

• Once you trust the current version of HiddenVM, when new releases arrive you can track code changes by using Meld <https://meldmerge.org>_ (\ sudo apt install meld\ ). Drag and drop the old and new folders together into Meld\ , and any code differences will be highlighted.

Also you can check the integrity of our ZIP release file:

• Download both our ZIP and the SHA512.

• Extract our AppImage and place it next to the SHA512.

• Do sha512sum -c HiddenVM-*-x86_64.sha512 and it will check both the ZIP and the AppImage.

Or generate your own AppImage from our source code once you trust it:

#. git clone https://github.com/aforensics/HiddenVM.git

#. cd HiddenVM/appimage

#. ./make-appimage.sh (The script will download appimagetool from AppImageKit <https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageKit>_ if it needs to.)

See your own generated AppImage in the target subdir.

FAQs / Warnings

What type of person might use HiddenVM? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

In the same way as Tor and Tails, HiddenVM (called HVM for short) is intended for a wide range of people and situations around the world. In our digital age of increasing surveillance and control, we need tools to keep digital privacy and freedom alive.

If you are a political dissident in a country under totalitarian rule, in your situation there has never been a robust tech solution to truly hide and protect your data in a convenient way. Our tool may provide that for you.

We are aligned with the Tails and Tor projects in our intention and promotion of how this software could and should be used.

What guest OSes work with HiddenVM? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

We have so far successfully tested Windows 10, macOS Mojave, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Fedora, and Whonix. Anything that works in VirtualBox should be compatible. Our Wiki will have how-to's and links for specific OSes. Please contribute interesting findings in our subreddit <https://reddit.com/r/HiddenVM>_.

How much RAM do I need? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Using VMs in Tails uses a lot of RAM because Tails already runs entirely in RAM. We recommended at least 16 GB in your machine but your mileage may vary.

Why is HiddenVM taking more than the usual 2 minutes to launch? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The first time you run HiddenVM, the install can take anywhere from several minutes to more than half an hour because it needs to download all the necessary software that it uses. After that it caches everything offline for a much quicker 2-minute launch time.

Every 7 days, if you're connected to the Internet HiddenVM will do an apt-get update to check repositories like VirtualBox and will download new updates if available. Sometimes you can get connected to a very slow Tor circuit in Tails. Close off HiddenVM's Terminal window and restart Tails to hopefully be connected to a faster circuit.

Every time you do a Tails and HiddenVM upgrade, the first time after this will almost always need to install new package versions, thus taking around 5 minutes or longer. Then it returns to the usual 2 minutes.

I'm getting a "Connection timed out", HiddenVM fails! What to do? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

See here <https://github.com/aforensics/HiddenVM/issues/34>_. It's the current Tor circuit failing. Simply close off HiddenVM and try again, or try other options in the linked issue.

Can I use HiddenVM offline? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Yes. It may even be possible to use HVM offline for extended periods of several months at a time if you never update Tails or HiddenVM during such periods.

We can't guarantee this, but limited testing by the team has confirmed it being possible for at least a month.

As soon as you connect to the Internet, HiddenVM may upgrade its cached software and you may have to upgrade to the latest version from our GitHub as well as your Tails, but after all software is updated and verified as in sync by HiddenVM, it could be possible to use it offline for an extended period