The Tor Project and Tails have merged operations

The Tor Project and Tails OS have joined forces and merged operations to counter a growing number of digital threats.

The Tor Project and Tails have merged operations to enhance collaboration and expand training, outreach, and strengthen both organizations’ efforts to protect users globally from digital surveillance and censorship. The two organizations aim to better counter growing digital threats, and the merger between them will enhance protections for users needing both network and system-level security.

In late 2023, Tails proposed merging operations with Tor Project to expand its operational capacity and build a larger and established operational framework.

“By joining forces, the Tails team can now focus on their core mission of maintaining and improving Tails OS, exploring more and complementary use cases while benefiting from the larger organizational structure of The Tor Project.” reads the announcement published by Tails. “This solution is a natural outcome of the Tor Project and Tails’ shared history of collaboration and solidarity.”

The two organizations have a ‘long-standing collaboration’ and their developers have worked closely together.

“Running Tails as an independent project for 15 years has been a huge effort, but not for the reasons you might expect. The toughest part wasn’t the tech–it was handling critical tasks like fundraising, finances, and HR. After trying to manage those in different ways, I’m really relieved that Tails is now under the Tor Project’s wing. In a way, it feels like coming home.” said intrigeri, Team Lead Tails OS, The Tor Project.

Tor and Tails could provide complementary privacy protections anonymizing online activity using the Tor browser and providing a secure OS like Tails. Together, they offer a comprehensive solution for users facing surveillance or seeking access to the open web.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Tor)