Specialized VMs

Some specialized operating systems exist. While you can configure a generalized Linux VM to behave in a similar manner, using a Linux distro already optimized for it will save you setup time.

I do not condone illegal or immoral activity, use what you learn here responsibly and don't do anything stupid.

Kali Linux

Kali Linux is an open-source, Debian-based Linux distribution geared towards various information security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security Research, Computer Forensics and Reverse Engineering.

DragonOS

DragonOS has become the go-to resource for SDR to the same degree that Kali Linux has become a one-stop-shop for the fields of offensive security and digital forensics.

SDR stands for Software Defined Radio, meaning that many of the hardware components of radio trasmitters and receivers is turned into software instead, reducing overall cost of a radio.

Tails

Tails is meant as a simple linux distro for journalists and dissidents who want to access the internet securely. All network connections through Tails connect through Tor, with the exception of the "Unsafe Browser" which you need to use when connected to some public Wifis. Public Wifi may force you to agree to some terms before connecting you to the internet, so the Unsafe Browser is meant only to be used in that case.

Tails also does not save files by default, when you shutdown Tails, the files you downloaded are gone. You can enable "persistent storage" inside Tails, however our VM setup will not have that option.

I recommend Tails for USB sticks, but I don't see much point in a VM for Tails, especially with how I setup the VM with no persistent storage. But since I've made the instructions anyway, I'll leave it here for you guys. If you want to use Tor, download Tor Browser in one of your Ubuntu VMs.