File integrity verification using a verified, image-based file system

In general, the invention is directed to techniques for verifying the integrity of a file system and individually verifying files contained therein based on the integrity of the file system. For example, a computer-based device is described in which a computer-readable storage medium stores a file system stored as an image file. The device comprises a virtual file system comprising a mount list entry that corresponds to the file system, wherein the file system is mounted on the virtual file system, and wherein the mount list entry comprises a first verified flag that indicates whether the file system is verified. A verified execution module determines whether the image file is corrupt, and a kernel module sets the first verified flag when the image file is not corrupt. An image verify module verifies the integrity of files stored by the file system by determining whether the file system is verified.