Newbie questions

[gentlementle]

Can I change the wall paper of Workstation and/or Gateway to something personal, without compromising anonymity?

If I login to an account, such as email provider, internet forums, reddit, that I’ve logged in before without using TOR, will this then compromise future internet browsing if I wish to maintain being anonymous? If I do so, can I “reset a circuit” to then put me back into being anonymous?

Should I not use Whonix/TOR to login to public internet forums and reddit? I figure I could create a new account with these services through anonymous means, but I’d end up using these internet communities/forums in a similar way. Because of how I like to behave and use these forums, I’m not sure if I’ll actually be anonymous and gain anything from using Whonix/TOR.

Could it be beneficial to use these services where I don’t have good anonymity, inside a separate Workstation?

If I’m using TOR browser within Whonix, and then a different device in my household, connects to the same router, to do their own browsing or torrenting on a non-Linux, non-TOR connection, can this device compromise the anonymity of the Whonix user when the internet disconnects? From what I read of the Wiki, this seems to be the case. For me personally, it is unavoidable to not have non-TOR connections to the router, and drop outs happen regularly. Is there much benefit to using Whonix and TOR, if my circumstances are like so?

Is it best to shut down Whonix by going start-logout-shutdown, or can someone turn it off using Virtual Box without issue?

[0brand]

Can I change the wall paper of Workstation and/or Gateway to something personal, without compromising anonymity?

No, If the VM was compromised the custom wallpaper could be used as a fingerprint. You should not change settings if the consequences are unknown. You should first ask, like you are doing now

https://whonix.org/wiki/DoNot#Change_Settings_if_the_Consequences_are_Unknown

If I login to an account, such as email provider, internet forums, reddit, that I’ve logged in before without using TOR, will this then compromise future internet browsing if I wish to maintain being anonymous? If I do so, can I “reset a circuit” to then put me back into being anonymous?

If you logged into those accounts without using Tor you are already de-anonymized. You would never be anonymous while using those identities and/or pseudonyms. So you would have to create new ones. Now, if your Whonix-Workstation was ever compromised while using those de-anonymized personas, any new identities that were created using the compromised VM could be linked to the old ones becuase your activites could be tracked by the malware. This is not saying your external IP address would be leaked though.

https://whonix.org/wiki/DoNot#Login_to_Accounts_Used_without_Tor

Should I not use Whonix/TOR to login to public internet forums and reddit? I figure I could create a new account with these services through anonymous means, but I’d end up using these internet communities/forums in a similar way. Because of how I like to behave and use these forums, I’m not sure if I’ll actually be anonymous and gain anything from using Whonix/TOR.

Strongly recommended against:

• https://whonix.org/wiki/DoNot#Login_to_Social_Networks_Accounts_and_Think_you_are_Anonymous
• https://whonix.org/wiki/DoNot#Login_to_Twitter.2C_Facebook.2C_Google_etc._Longer_than_Necessary

Could it be beneficial to use these services where I don’t have good anonymity, inside a separate Workstation?

It is highly recommended to use a separate Whonix-Workstation for each identity and torified client.

Multiple Whonix-Workstations

If I’m using TOR browser within Whonix, and then a different device in my household, connects to the same router, to do their own browsing or torrenting on a non-Linux, non-TOR connection, can this device compromise the anonymity of the Whonix user when the internet disconnects? From what I read of the Wiki, this seems to be the case. For me personally, it is unavoidable to not have non-TOR connections to the router, and drop outs happen regularly. Is there much benefit to using Whonix and TOR, if my circumstances are like so?

Its possible that a computer on your Lan such as a Windows computer or your router could be compromised and then compromise your host Os. And could ping a server controlled by an attacker over clearnet. You would be safer using Whonix/Tor in general. But if anonymity is extemly important I wouldn’t use Whonix on a Lan with a Windows computer.

Is it best to shut down Whonix by going start-logout-shutdown, or can someone turn it off using Virtual Box without issue?

I would shutdown the Whonix VM first.Meaning shutdown in order. But if you need to poweroff quickly do whatever works fastest.

[Patrick]

https://www.whonix.org/wiki/DoNot#Mix_Anonymity_Modes also applies.