Ubuntu Linux for Online Banking

In an earlier project, I modified Puppy Linux to use for online-banking. Customizing Puppy was necessary since my bank uses a Java applet during the login process and Puppy, being a small Linux Distro, does not include the huge Java Runtime Environemnt which nearly doubles the size of Puppy.

During that project I learned a lot about creating "LiveUSB" memory sticks, including how to create a USB stick that could boot Ubuntu Linux on both a PC and a Mac. So, after doing some further reading, it seems a natural next step to create a custom version of Ubuntu to use when banking online, especially as I have now switched to using Ubuntu full time on my desktop PC.

This may turn out to be far easier than hacking Puppy, as others have alreay done much of the heavy lifting required. Preliminary indications are that the necessary steps include the following. See the resource links, below, for further deetails and, if you have any comments or questions about this, leave a comment on the blog.

install a clean version of Ubuntu into a Virtual PC (I'll be using Ubuntu 10.04-1 LTS for this)
delete unwanted / unnessary packages, reducing size by about 15% (2.3GB to 2GB)
install the current security, recommended, and other updates
install the additional applications for this custom version
- Java Runtime Environment (required to access my bank)
- Java version of Password Safe
- KeePass (requires install of 'winforms' [mono] and 'xdotool')
- TrueCrypt (allows creating / mounting encrypted private volumes)
- Firefox plug-ins:
  - NoScript (good to have on all platforms, especially when Java is used),
  - HTTPS Everywhere (not "everywhere" yet, but a good start),
  - ~~Better Privacy (removes LSOs, a.k.a. "flash cookies"),~~
  - IcedTea (the OpenJDK Java plugin)
run a 'remastering' script to create a distribution ISO file

Using a separate process to remaster the ISO distribution file is important, and a better solution than using a "saved session" feature such as is available with Puppy Linux. The point being that, this way, there is a greatly reduced chance of including unexpected malware into your ISO file.

Current Version — To download: right-click on the ZIP file link, then select 'Save As...'

Current (2nd) test version: ubuntu-10.04-custom-i386.zip [24-May-2011] confirm download using: md5sum
The size of this download is 883 MB, and it includes
Java for accessing Banco Nacional's online banking website

configure the USB memory stick: read the setup details [TBD]
- install a boot loader [TBD] to allow booting on a PC directly from the custom Ubuntu ZIP distribution file
- copy the EFI Boot loader to allow booting on a Mac (this also uses Grub2, but does not get "installed" into the MBR)
- configure both boot menus (based on MultiBoot script, see below)
- copy the new custom Ubuntu ISO file to the USB stick
- then, to update, run the remastering script from a session booted from the ISO (or from within the VM, if this is necessary)

After you give this test version a try, let me know how it works.

Earlier Versions

First test version: ubuntu-10.04-custom-i386.iso [12-May-2011] confirm download using: md5sum
The size of this download is 892 MB, and it includes
Java, TrueCrypt, and Password Safe

Last update: 24-May-2011

Misc Links

Ubuntu on Mac — Some resource links

Running Ubuntu on Mactel — Community Help Pages
PowerPC Mac: How to make a Live CD a Live USB stick
(from May-2008, but still has updates from Jul-2011)

Customizing Ubuntu — Some resource links

Slimming Ubuntu — Cut an Ubuntu install to about half size
Remove Unnecessary Packages &mdash and Other Random Tidbits
Remove Unnecessary Packages &mdash all in one script
Cleaning up Ubuntu — read the comments section
Remastersys Guide — Create Ubuntu-based distros
MultiBoot Linux — Boot various Linux versions directly from ISO files
EFI Boot Loader — Boot Ubuntu on a Mac (the Grub menu will require mods to work with Ubuntu 10.04-1 LTS)
VirtualBox — Run guest operating systems in a Virtual Machine
UCK: Ubuntu Customization Kit — Create LiveCDs for Ubuntu, Kubuntu/Xubuntu, and Edubuntu
LiveCD Customizing — Note the prerequisits: squashfs-tools, and genisoimage
How to 'chroot' — The simple, fast way (from Ubuntu Forums)
ISO Booting with Grub2 — from an ISO file on a hard drive
How To Boot & Install Ubuntu from the Grub Rescue Prompt
How to update Grub2 from an older version on Ubuntu

Documenting Ubuntu Customizations — Resource links

Some things to consider adding to a bootable USB memory stick

TrueCrypt Advanced Usage
- Create a secret encrypted drive — the easy way: GUI
- Create a TrueCrypt hidden volume — the hard way: command-line
- Perfect dual boot crypted hard disk setup with Truecrypt and LUKS
- How to Use Truecrypt — Quick Guide for Keyfiles
  (Not sure that using keyfiles is a great idea)
Essential Windows apps
- Password Safe, or KeePass — Or any password manager other than LastPass
- TCTraveler — A portable version of the TrueCrypt private volume manager
- Eraser — Securely and completely erase files and directories
- A43 — A terrific Windows file / directory explorer replacement
- TweakUI — A Microsoft "Power Toy" to easily make necessary registry changes
  - use this to disable 'auto-play' on all drives except the CD/DVD
    (here's a how to for both TweakUI on XP Home and GPEdit on XP Pro)
- MobaXterm — Amazing: It's Cygwin in a little box, with a lot of cool extras
Other Useful Windows apps
- TeamViewer — Free desktop sharing and remote access
- IrfanView — A simple, elegant image editor, great for screenshots
- Process Explorer — Another Microsoft "Power Toy"
- Process Monitor — Another Microsoft "Power Toy"
- PuTTYgen — A simple symetric password key generator
- MD5Sum — A simple Windows app to confirm file downloads
Advanced: Systems and Recovery tools
- Puppy Linux — A custom version of the Puppy Linux OS
- Ubuntu Linux — A custom version of the popular Ubuntu Linux
- EFI Boot Loader — Allows booting Ubuntu on a Mac
- Windows Tools — System recovery tools
  - to be determined
- Linux Tools — System recovery tools
  - to be determined

Migrating to Linux — before and after

First small steps migrating from WinXP to WinXP, and then on to Linux
A funny screenshot of Photoshop and Gimp side-by-side
Linux migration notes (still a very rough draft)

Hardware listings — handy to have when somthing goes wrong

Hardware listing (Gateway Desktop PC)
Hardware listing (No-Name Desktop PC)
Hardware listing (Dell Inspiron Laptop – old)
Hardware listing (Dell Inspiron Laptop – new #1, w/1GB RAM added from old)
Hardware listing (Dell Inspiron Laptop – new #2)