Introduction

What is Qubes OS?

Qubes OS is an open source, security-focused operating system. It is very different than operating systems you may be familiar with already, because it consists of multiple isolated virtual machines that allow you to separate more trusted components, files, or programs on your computer from less trusted components, files, or programs.

Broadly speaking, this means that even if files in one of your virtual machines are exposed to malware, files in others still have some protection, which is not true of other operating systems.

What is SecureDrop Workstation?

SecureDrop Workstation is a project that uses Qubes to make SecureDrop faster and simpler for journalists to use.

A key feature of SecureDrop is that journalists can receive submissions from unknown sources without risking the security of their own machines and networks. Previously, SecureDrop accomplished this by using a physical airgap (the Secure Viewing Station), meaning that to view submissions, journalists would have to download them, transfer them to an encrypted USB drive, and physically take that drive to a separate, non-networked computer for decryption and viewing. SecureDrop Workstation combines all of those steps into one workflow on one machine: a Qubes computer that combines the Journalist Workstation and the Secure Viewing Station.

Who is behind SecureDrop Workstation?

SecureDrop and SecureDrop Workstation are open source projects of Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), a US-based nonprofit organization. You can support our work by contributing to SecureDrop and by making a donation.

Our work would not be possible without the larger open source community.

We’re deeply grateful to the SecureDrop volunteer community for translating our software into many languages. Their work is enabled by Weblate, an open source platform for continuous localization. You can make a donation to support Weblate development.

Translation of SecureDrop is supported by Localization Lab. You can donate to support their important work to help bring open source software into many languages.

The backbone of SecureDrop Workstation is Qubes OS. FPF has directly sponsored Qubes OS development, and we encourage you to donate to Qubes OS as well.

We use the Python programming language and many tools in its ecosystem, which you can support by donating to the Python Software Foundation.

SecureDrop Workstation VMs are powered by Debian, Fedora, and Whonix, all of which rely on volunteer contributions and financial support. The GNOME project acts as an umbrella for many of the individual software components we rely on.

Finally, SecureDrop Workstation relies on many other open source projects such as grsecurity, GnuPG, Sequoia, LibreOffice, Audacious, and others. These projects, in turn, are built on open source foundations. Please consider directing time and financial support wherever it can make a positive difference.

For more information on SecureDrop Workstation, see our FAQ.