Sold by: Citadel SecurityÂ
Deployed on AWS
AWS Free Tier
This product has charges associated with the pre-built security hardening and recurring maintenance. Deploy a Debian 12 virtual machine with 300+ security controls already applied. Start secure. Stay secure. Save weeks of work.
Overview
This Debian 12 image is a hardened virtual machine configured with over 300 security controls designed to protect cloud-based workloads from the start. Ideal for companies operating in regulated or sensitive environments, this image gives teams a secure and production-ready foundation out of the box.
Our hardened images are built using proprietary internal pipelines that automate and validate the implementation of critical security controls. Each control is carefully selected to reduce attack surface, enforce secure defaults, and help teams meet internal or external compliance expectations. No tools are pre-installed. The image is clean, consistent, and easy to integrate into any environment.
Use cases include deploying workloads in healthcare, finance, government, SaaS platforms, or any application where security is a priority. Default cloud OS images offer little to no security by default. Our hardened images save engineering teams weeks of effort, reduce risk from misconfiguration, and accelerate your ability to launch in secure environments. We are a US-based company with over four years of operation, trusted by enterprises and government agencies. All engineering and support work is performed by US-based employees.
Highlights
- Over 300 security controls are pre-applied to the base image to reduce vulnerabilities, enforce strong defaults, and simplify compliance. This saves teams weeks of manual effort and ensures consistency across deployments.
- Every image is built through our internal security pipeline and validated for integrity and reliability. You can deploy in minutes with confidence that your base operating system is secure and ready for production use.
- Backed by billions of compute hours and trusted by Fortune 500 and government teams. Our hardened images are the secure foundation for mission-critical workloads in regulated environments.
Details
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Delivery method
Delivery option
64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Latest version
Operating system
Debian 12
Deployed on AWS
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Pricing
Pricing is based on actual usage, with charges varying according to how much you consume. Subscriptions have no end date and may be canceled any time. Alternatively, you can pay upfront for a contract, which typically covers your anticipated usage for the contract duration. Any usage beyond contract will incur additional usage-based costs.
Additional AWS infrastructure costs may apply. Use the AWS Pricing Calculator to estimate your infrastructure costs.
If you are an AWS Free Tier customer with a free plan, you are eligible to subscribe to this offer. You can use free credits to cover the cost of eligible AWS infrastructure. See AWS Free Tier for more details. If you created an AWS account before July 15th, 2025, and qualify for the Legacy AWS Free Tier, Amazon EC2 charges for Micro instances are free for up to 750 hours per month. See Legacy AWS Free Tier for more details.
Dimension | Cost/hour |
|---|---|
t3a.medium Recommended | $0.105 |
t3.micro | $0.105 |
r5dn.large | $0.105 |
c6in.12xlarge | $0.175 |
m7a.xlarge | $0.175 |
d3en.12xlarge | $0.175 |
x2idn.24xlarge | $0.175 |
r7a.16xlarge | $0.175 |
z1d.large | $0.105 |
c4.4xlarge | $0.175 |
Vendor refund policy
Refunds are not available. Billing will be assessed per the standard billing terms of the applicable cloud service provider.
Legal
Vendor terms and conditions
Upon subscribing to this product, you must acknowledge and agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the vendor's End User License Agreement (EULA)Â .
Content disclaimer
Vendors are responsible for their product descriptions and other product content. AWS does not warrant that vendors' product descriptions or other product content are accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free.
Delivery details
64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
An AMI is a virtual image that provides the information required to launch an instance. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instances are virtual servers on which you can run your applications and workloads, offering varying combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking resources. You can launch as many instances from as many different AMIs as you need.
Version release notes
This is the initial release of the Debian 12 hardened image. It includes 300+ security controls pre-applied to the operating system and all latest updates as of this build. No extra software is included.
Additional details
Usage instructions
- Launch the image inside your secure VPC.
- Scope access to trusted IPs only. Avoid exposing the instance directly to the internet.
- Use AWS Systems Manager Session Manager or connect via VPN if possible.
To connect via SSH: ssh admin@<your-ec2-public-ip>.
Ensure port 22 is open in your security group and locked down to your IP.
No additional steps are required. The system is already fully hardened and ready to use.
Resources
Vendor resources
Support
Vendor support
Standard support is available via email during US business hours. To open a support ticket, contact support@citadelelement.com . We pride ourselves on timely SLA-based responses. Additional support for audit documentation or integration guidance is available upon request. All support is handled by US-based staff.
AWS infrastructure support
AWS Support is a one-on-one, fast-response support channel that is staffed 24x7x365 with experienced and technical support engineers. The service helps customers of all sizes and technical abilities to successfully utilize the products and features provided by Amazon Web Services.
Similar products
This product has charges associated with the pre-built hardening to the CIS Benchmarks™ and recurring maintenance. The CIS Hardened Images® are hardened in accordance with the associated CIS Benchmarks, an industry best practice for secure configuration. Reduce cost, time, and risk by building your AWS solution with CIS AMIs.
This product has charges associated with the pre-built security hardening and recurring maintenance. Deploy a Debian 12 virtual machine with 300+ security controls already applied. Start secure. Stay secure. Save weeks of work.
This product has charges associated with the pre-configured security setup, including continuous image maintenance. Deploy a security-hardened Debian 12 virtual machine configured with over 200 controls out of the box, optimized for secure workloads.
This product has charges associated with the pre-built security hardening and recurring maintenance. Deploy a Debian 12 virtual machine hardened with 300+ security controls to support PCI DSS needs. Save time. Launch secure. Accelerate compliance.
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