SpencerOne spencerone[at]openmailbox.org:
Is there any risk to this [Whonix on a VM] like with Tails, or is
Whonix built to function this way?
WhonixQubes whonixqubes[at]riseup.net:
Hi!
Whonix is optimized to run as virtual machines.
It does also run on physical machines, but is optimized for VMs.
Whonix is currently based on Debian.
There are two VMs that come with Whonix.
Whonix-Workstation and Whonix-Gateway
The Whonix-Workstation is where your user applications run. You can
alternatively use other OS desktop environments than the
Whonix-Workstation. But this one is optimized for ensuring proper Tor
anonymity.
The Whonix-Gateway is where the Tor service runs and all internet
traffic from your other desktop VMs gets forced/filtered through the
Tor
connection.
This TwoVM configuration of a separate Gateway and separate Workstation
makes it so that the Tor connection cannot be bypassed. For example, by
malware or misconfigured apps that might otherwise leak your IP address
or MAC address if it could break out of the VM and Tor isolation.
Hope that helps!
WhonixQubes