A release of the Parrot 6.0 distribution is available, based on the Debian package base and including a selection of tools for checking the security of systems, conducting forensic analysis and reverse engineering. Several iso images with the MATE environment are offered for download, intended for everyday use, security testing, installation on Raspberry Pi boards and creating specialized installations, for example, for use in cloud environments.
The Parrot distribution is positioned as a portable lab environment for security experts and forensic scientists, focusing on tools for testing cloud systems and IoT devices. It also includes cryptographic tools and programs to provide secure access to the network, including TOR, I2P, anonsurf, gpg, tccf, zulucrypt, veracrypt, truecrypt and luks.
In the new release:
- The transition to the Debian 12 package base has been completed.
- The Linux kernel has been updated to version 6.5 (from 6.0) with patches to expand sniffing capabilities, network packet substitution, and support for information security-related technologies.
- The composition includes DKMS modules backported for kernel 6.5 with additional drivers for wireless cards, which include advanced capabilities for traffic analysis. Updated NVIDIA drivers.
- Many specialized utilities have been updated.
- By default, Python 3.11 is enabled.
- The graphical interface has been modernized.
- An experimental option has been provided to run utilities not supported by the distribution (for example, incompatible with system libraries) in separate isolated containers.
- The ability to boot in Fail-Safe mode has been added to the GRUB bootloader.
- The installer, built on the Calamares framework, has been updated.
- The distribution's audio system has been switched to use the Pipewire media server instead of PulseAudio.
- The latest version of VirtualBox has been ported from Debian Unstable.
- Added support for Raspberry Pi 5 board.
Additionally, we can note the release of the Gnoppix Linux 24.1.15 distribution, aimed at working in Live mode for security researchers who want to maintain confidentiality and not leave traces on the system after their experiments. The distribution is based on Debian and the developments of the Kali Linux project. The project has been developing since 2003 and was previously based on the Knoppix Live distribution. Boot assemblies are prepared for x86_64 and i386 (3.9 GB) architectures.
In the new version:
- The layout of elements in the graphical interface has been redesigned, translated to Xfce 4.18. The Whiskermenu package is used as an application menu.
- An optional local installation mode has been added, implemented using the Calamares installer (previously only Live download was supported).
- Updated versions of Mousepad 0.6.1, Paole 4.18.0, Ristretto 0.13.1, Thunar 4.18.6, Whiskermenu 2.8.0, LibreOffice 7.6.4, Gnoppix Productivity 1.0.2, Gnoppix Secrity 0.3 and Gnoppix Privacy 2.1. The Linux kernel has been updated to version 6.6.11.
- Improved tools to enable redirection of all traffic through the Tor anonymous network. In addition to the Tor browser, the OnionShare file sharing program and the Ricochet messaging system, integrated with Tor, have been added.
- The package includes the Sweeper cache and temporary file cleaning utility, the VeraCrypt disk partition encryption package, and the MAT (Metadata Anonymization Toolkit) metadata anonymization toolkit.
Source: opennet.ru