qubes-doc/project-security/canary.md

---
lang: en
layout: doc
permalink: /security/canary/
redirect_from:
- /security/canaries/
- /doc/canaries/
ref: 208
title: Qubes Canaries
---

A **Qubes Canary** is a security announcement periodically issued by the [Qubes
Security Team](/security/#the-qubes-security-team) through the [Qubes Security
Pack](/security/pack/) consisting of several statements to the effect that the
signers of the canary have not been compromised. The idea is that, as long as
signed canaries including such statements continue to be published, all is
well. However, if the canaries should suddenly cease, if one or more signers
begin declining to sign them, or if the included statements change
significantly without plausible explanation, then this may indicate that
something has gone wrong.

The name originates from the practice in which miners would bring caged
canaries into coal mines. If the level of methane gas in the mine reached a
dangerous level, the canary would die, indicating to miners that they should
evacuate. See [Wikipedia: warrant
canary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_canary) for more information, but
bear in mind that Qubes Canaries are not strictly limited to legal warrants.

## Full list
Create Qubes Canaries page 2016-11-26 05:14:03 -05:00			`---`
Add lang + ref tags to frontmatter Those are fields used by the language switcher to correlate pages across different languages, even if they have different names/paths/titles. They are generated with the prepare_for_translation.py script. 2021-03-13 13:06:18 -05:00			`lang: en`
Use default doc layout for project security docs 2019-05-26 21:04:23 -04:00			`layout: doc`
Reorganize project security pages - Redirect to templates in qubes-secpack - Standardize titles and URLs 2021-06-22 00:36:06 -04:00			`permalink: /security/canary/`
Normalize instances of `redirect_from:` QubesOS/qubes-issues#6701 2021-06-16 01:24:44 -04:00			`redirect_from:`
Reorganize project security pages - Redirect to templates in qubes-secpack - Standardize titles and URLs 2021-06-22 00:36:06 -04:00			`- /security/canaries/`
Normalize instances of `redirect_from:` QubesOS/qubes-issues#6701 2021-06-16 01:24:44 -04:00			`- /doc/canaries/`
Add lang + ref tags to frontmatter Those are fields used by the language switcher to correlate pages across different languages, even if they have different names/paths/titles. They are generated with the prepare_for_translation.py script. 2021-03-13 13:06:18 -05:00			`ref: 208`
Clean up YAML titles and create redirect stubs QubesOS/qubes-issues#6701 2021-06-17 05:40:43 -04:00			`title: Qubes Canaries`
Create Qubes Canaries page 2016-11-26 05:14:03 -05:00			`---`

Wrap text and miscellaneous cleanup 2021-06-18 09:25:06 -04:00			`A Qubes Canary is a security announcement periodically issued by the [Qubes`
			`Security Team](/security/#the-qubes-security-team) through the [Qubes Security`
			`Pack](/security/pack/) consisting of several statements to the effect that the`
			`signers of the canary have not been compromised. The idea is that, as long as`
			`signed canaries including such statements continue to be published, all is`
			`well. However, if the canaries should suddenly cease, if one or more signers`
			`begin declining to sign them, or if the included statements change`
			`significantly without plausible explanation, then this may indicate that`
			`something has gone wrong.`
Create Qubes Canaries page 2016-11-26 05:14:03 -05:00
Wrap text and miscellaneous cleanup 2021-06-18 09:25:06 -04:00			`The name originates from the practice in which miners would bring caged`
			`canaries into coal mines. If the level of methane gas in the mine reached a`
			`dangerous level, the canary would die, indicating to miners that they should`
			`evacuate. See [Wikipedia: warrant`
			`canary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_canary) for more information, but`
			`bear in mind that Qubes Canaries are not strictly limited to legal warrants.`
Improve QSB and canary pages - Add general descriptions - Link to Qubes Security Team - Add headings for lists - Normalize heading syntax 2021-06-15 00:33:53 -04:00
			`## Full list`