Online attacks are multiplying, ransomware campaigns are increasingly forceful, and the authorities in charge are desperate to analyze our digital lives. Such conditions force users interested in protecting their privacy and anonymity to adapt, and in some cases, the most effective solution is an air gap. Discreete Linux offers us that. This Linux distro in beta phase provides no support whatsoever for external connections, thus creating an isolated environment, designed for local work.
The latest news in computer security indicate that President Donald Trump proposed to President Vladimir Putin the creation of a "cybersecurity unit"... and the world practically burst into a general laugh. This demonstrates the disturbing level of ignorance that the vast majority of rulers have regarding the Internet and its integrity. What is left for the end user then? The answer basically depends on our needs. One way or another, we are transmitting information, and the main software providers do not offer "switches" to disable such transmissions.
That puts the air gap concept back on the table once again. No one denies that it has its limitations, and several classified projects have focused on covering the physical gap. However, the Discreete Linux project takes the air gap a step further. In addition to completely eliminating connectivity support, it also does the same with local drives on the computer. The only way to work and achieve minimal persistence is by using a USB drive and creating an encrypted volume in the available space with the help of CryptoBox. Other integrated security options are Figaro's Password Manager, an interface to manage GnuPG, and a copy of VeraCrypt that allows us to access encrypted USB volumes.
Discreete Linux presents an interesting idea, but so far that's all it is. The distro (which, by the way, is based on Debian 8 Jessie) is in beta 1, and from what we've been able to verify, the project seems dormant. The last post on its Twitter profile is from December 2016, and we don't see major advances in its development. Even so, perhaps there are some things to borrow from Discreete Linux.
