Cybersecurity

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Which OS/Distro? (lemmy.world)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm new to the cyber-security/privacy space. I am interested in teaching myself about it, as well as dabbling in OSINT and general linux-type-stuff too. ATM this is all a hobby so while it is not crucial to have everything air-tight, I would like to do my best to follow best practices.

That being said, I am currently using a Mac M1 so my VM capabilities are (AFAIK) limited to the OS's provided by the UTM virtual machine software. For those who are unaware, the OS's they provide can be found here:

https://mac.getutm.app/gallery/

From a security/privacy perspective, which of these OS's would you consider to be the most secure or, able to be the most secure with configuration? At first glance and with my limited knowledge, I want to say Kali, but I feel this may be cliché as it's what your stereotypical-hacker-type would use.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

N.B., ease of use/convenience is not a top priority for me, as I'm using this as a learning experience and I'm open to trying different things and making mistakes along the way.

Thanks!

***EDIT: Thank you to all who provided information. I learned a lot. I've decided to try a few different distros that work with UTM namely, Parrot OS (both home and security editions for different purposes), as well as Kali and Debian.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

If you just want to dabble and learn about OS stuff then Kali is probably the best bet. I’ve heard a lot of stuff saying that Parrot is better but Kali is the industry standard, and I’m pretty sure both of them cover the basics just as well. If you’re looking for a secure distro to use a bit and just learn about Linux then choose something else. Pen-testing (OS) distros are inherently insecure simply because they’re loaded with the kind of software you don’t want on your own machine. Part of the battle in (ethical) hacking is getting the malware onto a machine, and these are absolutely loaded with it.

That being said, I think Parrot have a distro flavour that’s simply supposed to be a secure system rather than a pen-testing tool. I haven’t tried it myself.

However, if you’re new to Linux and simply want to learn start with something easier and well supported. Kali and Parrot are both based on Debian so maybe something similar would help you. Debian or a fork, like Ubuntu or Linux Mint.