In this case, you'll be happy to know that some tools such as RT Seven Lite can help you do just that by providing you with a wide range of tools that enable you to tweak and customize your OS to your liking.
Your risks from users and generic malware are MUCH higher than from something like Stuxnet.If you are still a Windows 7 user, you probably went through the phase where you wanted to customize each and every component of your operating system before installation so that you don't have to waste time after you deploy it. I wouldn't worry as much about that as I would about users doing things they shouldn't do. Although no one's taking credit for it (and many suspect that it was the US and/or Israel, no one knows), it was targeted against a very specific thing - the Iranian nuclear program. WRT stuxnet: I've seen 2 posts about that recently. So if your ISO gets compromised, unless completely replaced with something that looks like Windows and acts like Windows, you'll run into their OS verification. Windows then would replace the compromised file with the correct one. For at least 10 years now, if a critical file in the OS is replaced with an unrecognized version, the device upon boot would ask for you to insert the original CD. Microsoft, to their credit, has gotten a lot better about the security of their operating system. nLite and RT7liteĬan an iso be compromised? Sure, it can. Just so people do know that it is possible and how easy it is. Here is an an example of programs that can modify a windows iso. If you can prove that Windows Resource Protection is enough (which I don't think you can after looking at the links below) please explain why in your answer. I fail to see how that will prevent a virus if you can add custom programs to the iso that can run at boot. I do not think that is true because there are plenty of programs to modify Windows iso. wikipediaĪn answer mentioned that Windows Resource Protection is enough to prevent someone from modifying an iso of Windows. Values and prevent potentially damaging system configuration changes,īesides operating system files. Windows Resource Protection aims to protect core registry keys and
Compromise USB/DVD imaging software like unetbootin / win32 disk imager / rufus etc.
This made me consider the importance of a clean installation of Windows and how the Windows install itself could be used as an exploit. I've been concerned about security and I have been reading a lot about stuxnet and hearing a lot lately about the leaked NSA exploits and the more recent leaked exploits NYtimes
I've have looked at and considered Question about potential ISO infection and ISO verification and