There will be no proof of an operating system existing at all, just random data. If you use VeraCrypt along with a hidden partition normally, you would still have the VeraCrypt bootloader or an apparent Windows installation on the drive.
You could always argue that the drive was previously "securely erased" and filled w/ random data and/or that it was "securely encrypted" with a key that was then destroyed?
The current state is far from usable, but the final goal would be to have multiple nested "hidden OSes" that can be booted and managed concurrently, depending on the provided password.
Encrypt everything you need on it.
They are, should it be required, easy to quickly and discreetly swallow as a last resort. (To get rid of it. I have no idea what would happen to a nano sd card travelling through your body, but I presume that it, or at least the ability to read the data on it, would be destroyed.
Then carry a regular laptop with you, with all the regular applications and regular behavior of them. Boring.
Using tails as the main operating system on a computer you fear might be inspected by customs or secret agents is screaming:
"I have something to hide and you cant find it"
I feel like all of tails could simply be a short bash script that uses “debootstrap” to stage a Debian installation and then make it into a squashfs image that is mounted with overlayFS and a tmpfs (which is like a 3-line addition to the main “init” script).
(And yes, I’ve done this before. It’s not hard)
Instead they have a very fancy website and provide binary images without really showing how it works…
Not trying to belittle what they did, I’m sure that took a lot of work.
Just don’t understand the current fads… I feel like they’re trying a little too hard to sell a free product…
Besides, all distributions do some branding (some to the point of obnoxiousness).
HiddenVM, on the other hand, I don't really understand. They make you go through tons of manual steps to achieve the aforementioned hiddenness... Might as well DIY. And their README reads like a VC pitch. "HiddenVM is an innovation in computing privacy." really? You're taking tails and telling the user to install virtualbox, veracrypt, and do the setup...
yikes.
A CRYPTO NERD'S IMAGINATION:
HIS LAPTOP'S ENCRYPTED.
LET'S BUILD A MILLION-DOLLAR CLUSTER TO CRACK IT.
NO GOOD! IT'S 4096-BIT RSA!
BLAST! OUR EVIL PLAN IS FOILED!"
WHAT WOULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN:
HIS LAPTOP'S ENCRYPTED.
DRUG HIM AND HIT HIM WITH THIS $5 WRENCH UNTIL HE TELLS US THE PASSWORD.
Note2: I'm missing images on hacker news. I understand why they are absent here though
Unfortunately, it looks like this version is no longer maintained.
"HiddenVM is a futuristic tool powered by KVM designed to combine the powerful amnesic nature of Tails and the impenetrable design of Whonix with the unbreakable strength of Veracrypt."
If this concerned me I would just wipe the drive and/or factory reset the device before travelling, and restore it later, rather than try to experimentally figure out what games I can and can't play with the customs authorities.