This virtual machine is built on Debian 8 minimal install. Only AWS Tools, VIM, and SSH have been installed beyond the default bare bones configuration. This VM was then hardened according to the Open SCAP security guide for Debian 8 using the most restrictive profile; which can be viewed here https://github.com/openscap/scap-security-guide. This Amazon Machine Image is a perfect starting point for testing your applications on a hardened OS.