Qubes 4.0.2 (x86_64) DVD

Qubes OS is a security-oriented operating system (OS). The OS is the software that runs all the other programs on a computer. Qubes is free and open-source software (FOSS). This means that everyone is free to use, copy, and change the software in any way. It also means that the source code is openly available so others can contribute to and audit it.

Qubes takes an approach called security by compartmentalization, which allows you to compartmentalize the various parts of your digital life into securely isolated compartments called qubes.

This approach allows you to keep the different things you do on your computer securely separated from each other in isolated qubes so that one qube getting compromised won't affect the others.

Using a separate physical computer for sensitive activities can certainly be more secure than using one computer with a conventional OS for everything, but there are still risks to consider. Briefly, here are some of the main pros and cons of this approach relative to Qubes:

Pros

• Physical separation doesn't rely on a hypervisor. (It's very unlikely that an attacker will break out of Qubes' hypervisor, but if one were to manage to do so, one could potentially gain control over the entire system.)
• Physical separation can be a natural complement to physical security. (For example, you might find it natural to lock your secure laptop in a safe when you take your unsecure laptop out with you.)

• Physical separation can be cumbersome and expensive, since we may have to obtain and set up a separate physical machine for each security level we need.
• There's generally no secure way to transfer data between physically separate computers running conventional OSes. (Qubes has a secure inter-VM file transfer system to handle this.)
• Physically separate computers running conventional OSes are still independently vulnerable to most conventional attacks due to their monolithic nature.
• Malware which can bridge air gaps has existed for several years now and is becoming increasingly common.