Security Operating System Comparison - Kicksecure vs Debian

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FAQ Documentation Trust Previous page: FAQ Index page: Documentation Next page: Trust Security Operating System Comparison - Kicksecure vs Debian

• ---

  About
• Design Documentation
• Comparison with Debian
• Comparison with Whonix

This page contains a detailed overview and comparison of Kicksecure and Debian regarding security hardening, privacy defaults, and usability.

Introduction

This wiki page compares the security-focused, hardened defaults of Kicksecure against upstream Debian. The differences are comprehensively detailed in several tables and visually highlighted below. The aspects considered are security hardening, several privacy aspects, and usability aspects.

Security Hardening by Default

Account & Privilege Management

Account & Privilege Management Features

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
user-sysmaint-split	Separate daily and admin accounts by default	Yes	No
Improved protection from firmware trojans (a type of malware / hardware backdoor) and rootkits	Due to above.	Yes	No
Holistic administrative ("root") account protection	Root Account Locked su restrictions Protection from sudo password sniffing Rationale for Protecting the Root Account	Yes	No
Strong Linux User Account Isolation	Enforces strict separation between user accounts with protections against privilege escalation, password sniffing, cross-account access, and brute-force attacks.	Yes	No
libpam-tmpdir	Make symlink attacks and other /tmp based attacks harder or impossible.	Yes	No
Permission Lockdown	Permission Lockdown enforces strong user separation by restricting access to other users' home directories using strict file permissions.	Yes	No
umask hardening	Restrictive umask to tighten file system permissions for newly created files.	Yes	No
Console Lockdown / /etc/securetty hardening	Console lockdown reduces the attack surface for console based attacks.	Yes	No
Bruteforcing Linux Account Passwords Protection	Online Password Cracking Restrictions / sudo restrictions	Yes	No

Package & Binary Security

Package & Binary Hardening Features

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
SUID Disabler and Permission Hardener	Improves security by disabling SUID binaries, tightening file permissions, and enhancing user account isolation to reduce potential attack surfaces.	Yes	No
Default package selection	Minimal by default, therefore reduced attack surface from optional services such as exim / samba / cups by default	Yes	Depends.
Secure APT sources	HTTPS APT sources are used by default	Yes	Depends.
security-misc	Kernel hardening, entropy, mount options, brute-force protection	Yes	No

Network Security

Network Security Features

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
Protection against targeted, malicious software upgrades	Anonymous (Torified) software upgrades (APT upgrades run over Tor) by default	Yes	No
TCP ISN randomization (tirdad)	TCP Initial Sequence Numbers Randomization: mitigates a reported TCP ISN based information leak side channel; see footnote.	Yes	No
Secure network time synchronization / Protection from Time Attacks	Uses authenticated web-date protocol / sdwdate versus NTP	Yes (sdwdate)	No (NTP)
open-link-confirmation	This is enabled by default and prevents links from being unintentionally opened in supported browsers.	Yes	No
No open server ports by default	All unsolicited incoming connections are blocked	Yes	Depends.
Bluetooth Hardening	Bluetooth is enabled in the kernel but disabled by default; private MAC addresses, limited discoverability timeout, and manual user activation required.	Yes	No

Encryption & Data Protection

Encryption & Data Protection Features

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
Strong Entropy Generation	Ensures secure cryptographic operations by providing high-quality randomness. See also Dev/Entropy.	Yes	No
Full Disk Encryption (FDE)	Enabled by default in the installer	Yes	Depends
ram-wipe	Wipes RAM at shutdown and reboot to prevent information extraction from memory.	Yes	No
USBGuard enabled by default	Provides policy-based USB device authorization framework to protect against malicious USB devices.	Yes	No

System Hardening

System Hardening Features

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
Protection against Physical Attacks Audit	systemcheck	Yes (Physical Security Check)	No
Recovery Mode Lockdown	Disables Recovery Mode by default.	Yes	No

Build Integrity & Transparency

Build Integrity & Transparency Features

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
Deep scan ready	Can be inspected from a trusted external system without booting the suspect operating system (OS), enabling offline or detached scanning of all storage and boot components.	Yes	Yes
Protects its in-house source code from malicious Unicode	Some Vulnerabilities are Invisible. Rather than inserting logical bugs, adversaries can attack the encoding of source code files to inject vulnerabilities. These adversarial encodings produce no visual artifacts.	Yes	No
Protection from supply chain attacks	Mandates digital signature verification at all stages of development. This includes source code commits, git tags, the build process, and final downloads. Execution or deployment of unsigned code is strictly forbidden. The policy helps prevent supply chain attacks by ensuring the authenticity and integrity of software throughout its development and distribution.	Yes	No
Warrant canary	Public statement confirming no secret warrants or gag orders have been served on the project, helping maintain user trust.	Yes	No
build documentation	Building your own images is encouraged, made as secure and easy as possible, with free user support being provided in the forums.	Yes	Yes

Security Tools

Security Tools

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
grub-pwchange	grub-pwchange is a GRUB bootloader password management tool for setting a Bootloader Password.	Yes	No
Searching Files and Folders for Unicode tools pre-installed	grep-find-unicode-wrapper and unicode-show pre-installed	Yes	No
pwchange	Terminal-based tool for secure password changes using the command line.	Yes	No
crypt-pwchange	Utility for changing LUKS-encrypted volume passwords securely.	Yes	No

Usability

Usability and Convenience

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
Live Mode	Easily activated from the boot menu, Live Mode discards all data after shutdown, leaving no trace of the session.	Yes	No
System Maintenance Panel (sysmaint-panel)	GUI tool for common administrative tasks: software updates, package installation, account management, password changes, keyboard layout configuration, system checks, and more.	Yes	No
Calamares installer with improved UX	Graphical installer offering a user-friendly installation experience with fewer steps and clearer options.	Yes	Depends.
Functional APT sources list	Pre-configured and working APT sources to ensure package updates and installations function out of the box.	Yes	Depends.
sudo pre-configured	sudo is ready to use without additional setup, allowing safe privilege escalation by default.	Yes	Depends.
bash-completion, Zsh shell	Command-line enhancements like tab completion and Zsh shell for improved terminal usability.	Yes	No
vm-config-dist	Provides virtual machine usability improvements such as auto mounting shared folders, setting a sensible screen resolution, automatic screen resizing, and integration helpers for common VM environments.	Yes	No
usability-misc	Miscellaneous usability enhancements.	Yes	No
Popular apps pre-installed	Frequently used applications are pre-installed with secure defaults for convenience and security.	Yes with secure defaults	Depends.
chmod-calc pre-installed	Comprehensive File and Directory Inspection Tool	Yes	No
Simple system-wide keyboard layout configuration	A tool is provided for changing the keyboard layout for the labwc display server, as well as system-wide (console, GUI, disk encryption passphrase prompt, GRUB)	Yes	No
apt-get-noninteractive	A wrapper for apt-get that allows for automated, non-interactive package installation and upgrades.	Yes	No
dpkg-noninteractive	A wrapper for dpkg to ensure non-interactive behavior suitable for scripts or automation.	Yes	No
apt-get-reset	Resets configuration files to vendor defaults, useful for recovery or resolving misconfigurations.	Yes	No
GRUB boot menu with keyboard layout selection sub-menu (set-grub-keymap)	GRUB bootloader includes a sub-menu for selecting keyboard layouts to support localized access at boot time.	Yes	No
Recovery Mode with user-specified keyboard layout (set-system-keymap)	Recovery Mode supports custom keyboard layouts, enhancing accessibility in emergency scenarios.	Yes	No
Emergency Recovery Console with user-specified keyboard layout (set-system-keymap)	Emergency console can be used with user-defined keyboard layout for troubleshooting and system repair.	Yes	No

• todo: browser-choice + hp

Platform Support

Platform Support

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
Extensive architecture support	Availability of support across multiple processor architectures, such as x86_64 (Intel / AMD64), ARM, PPC, RISCV and others.	Limited. See Architecture Support.	Yes
Major Virtualizer Support	Availability of official images for virtualizers.	VirtualBox, VirtualBox Linux installer, KVM, Qubes	OpenStack, QEMU, Amazon EC2 / AWS Marketplace, Microsoft Azure / Azure Marketplace.
Extensive desktop environment support	GNOME, KDE, LXQt, MATE, Cinnamon and more	No, see Other Desktop Environments.	Yes

General

General Comparison

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
Open Source distribution	Freely available source code and licensed under open-source terms.	Yes	Yes
Based on Debian	Built directly on top of Debian for compatibility, stability, and maintainability.	Yes (Kicksecure is based on Debian)	N/A
High quality packaging distribution	Ensures software is secure, reproducible, license-compliant, and well-integrated into the distribution through auditing, patching, and enforcing technical and legal standards. See Purpose of Packaging.	Yes	Yes
Based on Linux	Built on the reliable, secure, and freedom-respecting Linux operating system to leverage its open-source foundation.	Yes	Yes
Pre-installed security tools	Comes with hardened tools and services for security, privacy, and anonymity.	AppArmor, sdwdate, tirdad, security-misc	Minimal (optional install)
Secure defaults (network, packages, accounts)	Defaults favor security: no open ports, limited user privileges, hardened configurations.	Yes	No
Target audience	Designed for users needing strong security and privacy protections.	Users seeking strong defense	General-purpose users, servers, desktops
Implementation of the Securing Debian Manual	Applies relevant recommendations from Debian's official security manual by default, adapting and modernizing where necessary.	Yes	No
Onion service version of website	Provides a more secure, end to end encrypted connection that bypasses traditional DNS and avoids reliance on certificate authorities.	Yes	Yes
Comprehensive security Documentation	In-depth guides and resources to help users understand, implement, and maintain strong security practices.	Yes (System Hardening Checklist)	Yes
Signed downloads	All downloads are cryptographically signed, allowing users to verify the authenticity and integrity of releases.	Yes	Yes
Documentation encourages users to perform digital software signature verification	Verifying Software Signatures is consistently pointed out in documentation for software installation and updating (not only for the ISO), and detailed verification instructions are provided where feasible.	Yes	Depends.

Freedom and Transparency

Freedom and Transparency

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
Open Source	Users have the right to inspect, modify, and share the entire source code, promoting collective security and privacy benefits.	Yes	Yes
Freedom Software	Includes software that adheres to Free Software Foundation (FSF) approved licenses.	Yes	Yes
Security hardening research and implementation focus	Maintained as a transparent and ongoing security-focused project with public visibility of issues and continual improvement.	Yes	No
Fully Auditable	All software is open for inspection and verification by independent developers and researchers worldwide.	Yes	Yes
Complete respect for privacy and user freedom	No user tracking, no advertising integrations, and no personal data harvesting.	Yes	Yes
No user freedom restrictions such as administrative rights refusal		Yes	Yes
No tivoization / no vendor lock-in		Yes	Yes
Obey user settings as a project value and development goal		Yes	Yes
Malware analysis / malicious backdoor and rootkit hunting possible reasonably easily	Not a design that simplifies implementation of The "Perfect" Malicious Backdoor.	Yes	Yes

Opt-in and Testers

TODO

Upcoming

Planned Features (Not Yet Implemented)

Feature	Description	Status
Emergency shutdown	Forcibly powers off the system if the boot drive is removed. Forcibly powers off the system via a "panic key sequence" (default: Ctrl+Alt+Delete). Can be triggered by running: sudo /run/emerg-shutdown --instant-shutdown Optional: shuts down if normal shutdown is stuck beyond a set timeout (default: 30 seconds); requires user tuning in /etc/security-misc/emerg-shutdown/30_security_misc.conf.	No Planned
Related forum thread	Discussion about potential improvements for screen locking and shutdown behavior.	No Planning/Discussion
Protecting the Kernel Command Line	Enhanced protection for kernel boot parameters to prevent tampering.	No Planned
Sovereign Boot	Integration with Sovereign Boot for verifiable system boot integrity.	No Planned

Development

Development Tools and Debugging

Feature	Description	Kicksecure	Debian
Easy setup of Serial Console	serial-console-enable: simplifies enabling a serial console for debugging purposes.	Yes	No
debug-misc	debug-misc: Simplifies enabling settings required for troubleshooting and debugging.	Yes	No

Attribution

• Not anti-Debian: This article should not be misunderstood as hatred toward Debian.
• Lineage: Kicksecure is based on Debian.
• Fork friendly: Debian welcomes software forks, meaning anyone can create a new project by copying Debian under the respective licenses and developing it in their own way. See also Debian is Fork Friendly.
• Gratitude: Without Debian, Kicksecure would not exist. Gratitude is expressed to the Debian project and its contributors.

We stand on the shoulders of giants - Kicksecure and many other Libre software projects are only made possible because people invested in writing code that is kept accessible for the public benefit.Reasons for Freedom Software / Open Source

Debian - the best parent one can havePureOS

Reasons for being based on Debian:chapter Debian - Security-Focused Operating System Comparison as Base for Whonix

See Also

• Hardening by Default
• Kicksecure Development Goals
• Full Disk Encryption
• sysmaint
• Debian Tips

Footnotes

FAQ Documentation Trust Previous page: FAQ Index page: Documentation Next page: Trust

Kicksecure A secure by default operating system with the latest security research in place.

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