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basics/intro.md
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basics/intro.md
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---
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layout: doc
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title: Introduction
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permalink: /intro/
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redirect_from:
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- /en/intro/
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- /doc/SimpleIntro/
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- /wiki/SimpleIntro/
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---
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A Simple Introduction to Qubes
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==============================
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This is a short, non-technical introduction to Qubes intended for a popular
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audience. (If you just want to quickly gain a basic understanding of what
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Qubes is all about, you're in the right place!)
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What is Qubes?
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--------------
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Qubes is a security-oriented operating system (OS). The OS is the software
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which runs all the other programs on a computer. Some examples of popular
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OSes are Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Android, and iOS. Qubes is free and
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open-source software (FOSS). This means that everyone is free to use, copy,
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and change the software in any way. It also means that the source code is
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openly available so others can contribute to and audit it.
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Why is OS security important?
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-----------------------------
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Most people use an operating system like Windows or OS X on their desktop
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and laptop computers. These OSes are popular because they tend to be easy
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to use and usually come pre-installed on the computers people buy. However,
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they present problems when it comes to security. For example, you might
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open an innocent-looking email attachment or website, not realizing that
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you're actually allowing malware (malicious software) to run on your
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computer. Depending on what kind of malware it is, it might do anything
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from showing you unwanted advertisements to logging your keystrokes to
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taking over your entire computer. This could jeopardize all the information
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stored on or accessed by this computer, such as health records, confidential
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communications, or thoughts written in a private journal. Malware can also
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interfere with the activities you perform with your computer. For example,
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if you use your computer to conduct financial transactions, the malware
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might allow its creator to make fraudulent transactions in your name.
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Aren't antivirus programs and firewalls enough?
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-----------------------------------------------
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Unfortunately, conventional security approaches like antivirus programs
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and (software and/or hardware) firewalls are no longer enough to keep out
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sophisticated attackers. For example, nowadays it's common for malware
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creators to check to see if their malware is recognized by any popular
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antivirus programs. If it's recognized, they scramble their code until it's
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no longer recognizable by the antivirus programs, then send it out. The
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best antivirus programs will subsequently get updated once the antivirus
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programmers discover the new threat, but this usually occurs at least a
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few days after the new attacks start to appear in the wild. By then, it's
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typically too late for those who have already been compromised. In addition,
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bugs are inevitably discovered in the common software we all use (such as
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our web browsers), and no antivirus program or firewall can prevent all of
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these bugs from being exploited.
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How does Qubes provide security?
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--------------------------------
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Qubes takes an approach called **security by compartmentalization**, which
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allows you to compartmentalize the various parts of your digital life into
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securely isolated virtual machines (VMs). A VM is basically a simulated
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computer with its own OS which runs as software on your physical computer. You
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can think of a VM as a *computer within a computer*.
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This approach allows you to keep the different things you do on your computer
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securely separated from each other in isolated VMs so that one VM getting
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compromised won't affect the others. For example, you might have one VM for
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visiting untrusted websites and a different VM for doing online banking. This
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way, if your untrusted browsing VM gets compromised by a malware-laden
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website, your online banking activities won't be at risk. Similarly, if
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you're concerned about malicious email attachments, Qubes can make it so
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that every attachment gets opened in its own single-use, "disposable" VM. In
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this way, Qubes allows you to do everything on the same physical computer
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without having to worry about a single successful cyberattack taking down
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your entire digital life in one fell swoop.
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How does Qubes compare to using a "live CD" OS?
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-----------------------------------------------
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Booting your computer from a live CD (or DVD) when you need to perform
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sensitive activities can certainly be more secure than simply using your main
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OS, but this method still preserves many of the risks of conventional OSes. For
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example, popular live OSes (such as [Tails] and other Linux distributions)
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are still **monolithic** in the sense that all software is still running in
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the same OS. This means, once again, that if your session is compromised,
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then all the data and activities performed within that same session are also
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potentially compromised.
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How does Qubes compare to running VMs in a conventional OS?
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---------------------------------------------------------
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Not all virtual machine software is equal when it comes to security. You may
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have used or heard of VMs in relation to software like VirtualBox or VMware
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Workstation. These are known as "Type 2" or "hosted" hypervisors. (The
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**hypervisor** is the software, firmware, or hardware that creates and
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runs virtual machines.) These programs are popular because they're designed
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primarily to be easy to use and run under popular OSes like Windows (which
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is called the **host** OS, since it "hosts" the VMs). However, the fact
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that Type 2 hypervisors run under the host OS means that they're really
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only as secure as the host OS itself. If the host OS is ever compromised,
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then any VMs it hosts are also effectively compromised.
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By contrast, Qubes uses a "Type 1" or "bare metal" hypervisor called
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[Xen]. Instead of running inside an OS, Type 1 hypervisors run directly on the
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"bare metal" of the hardware. This means that an attacker must be capable of
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subverting the hypervisor itself in order to compromise the entire system,
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which is vastly more difficult.
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Qubes makes it so that multiple VMs running under a Type 1 hypervisor can be
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securely used as an integrated OS. For example, it puts all of your application
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windows on the same desktop with special colored borders indicating the
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trust levels of their respective VMs. It also allows for things like secure
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copy/paste operations between VMs, securely copying and transferring files
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between VMs, and secure networking between VMs and the Internet.
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How does Qubes compare to using a separate physical machine?
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Using a separate physical computer for sensitive activities can certainly be
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more secure than using one computer with a conventional OS for everything,
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but there are still risks to consider. Briefly, here are some of the main
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pros and cons of this approach relative to Qubes:
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Pros:
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* Physical separation doesn't rely on a hypervisor. (It's very unlikely
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that an attacker will break out of Qubes' hypervisor, but if she were to
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manage to do so, she could potentially gain control over the entire system.)
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* Physical separation can be a natural complement to physical security. (For
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example, you might find it natural to lock your secure laptop in a safe
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when you take your unsecure laptop out with you.)
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Cons:
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* Physical separation can be cumbersome and expensive, since we may have to
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obtain and set up a separate physical machine for each security level we
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need.
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* There's generally no secure way to transfer data between physically
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separate computers running conventional OSes. (Qubes has a secure inter-VM
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file transfer system to handle this.)
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* Physically separate computers running conventional OSes are still
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independently vulnerable to most conventional attacks due to their monolithic
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nature.
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* Malware which can bridge air gaps has existed for several years now and
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is becoming increasingly common.
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(For more on this topic, please see the paper
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[Software compartmentalization vs. physical separation][paper-compart].)
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More information
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----------------
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This page is just a brief sketch of what Qubes is all about, and many
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technical details have been omitted here for the sake of presentation.
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* If you're a current or potential Qubes user, you may want to check out the
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[documentation][doc] and the [FAQ][user-faq].
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* If you're a developer, there's dedicated [documentation][system-doc]
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and an [FAQ][devel-faq] just for you.
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* Ready to give Qubes a try? Head on over to the [downloads] page.
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* Once you've installed Qubes, here's a guide on [getting started].
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[Tails]: https://tails.boum.org/
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[Xen]: http://www.xenproject.org
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[paper-compart]: http://www.invisiblethingslab.com/resources/2014/Software_compartmentalization_vs_physical_separation.pdf
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[doc]: /doc/
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[user-faq]: /doc/user-faq/
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[system-doc]: /doc/system-doc/
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[devel-faq]: /doc/devel-faq/
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[downloads]: /downloads/
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[getting started]: /doc/getting-started/
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1
doc.md
1
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The Basics
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----------
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* [A Simple Introduction to Qubes](/intro/)
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* [Users' FAQ](/doc/user-faq/)
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* [Mailing Lists](/doc/mailing-lists/)
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* [Further reading: How is Qubes different from...?](http://blog.invisiblethings.org/2012/09/12/how-is-qubes-os-different-from.html)
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