As we transition to an increasingly digital society, privacy and security have become areas of central concern—not a day goes by that we aren’t bombarded with security news headlines about hacks, breaches and the increasingly common and worrisome practice of storing and monitoring sensitive personal information, often without users’ consent. Luckily for us Linux users, the general consensus among experts is that Linux is a highly secure OS—arguably the most secure OS.
While all Linux distros—or distributed versions of Linux software—are secure by design, certain distros go above and beyond when it comes to protecting users’ privacy and security. We’ve put together a list of our favorite specialized secure Linux distros and spoken with some of their lead developers to find out first-hand what makes these distros so great. This article aims to help you evaluate your options and select the distro that best meets your individual needs.