Sold by: Citadel Security
Deployed on AWS
AWS Free Tier
This product has charges associated with it for hardening and maintenance. This Citadel VM is secured using 300+ open source security controls and validated using Citadel Audit.
Overview
This product has charges associated with it for hardening and maintenance. This Citadel Hardened VM is secured using 300+ security controls and validated using Citadel Audit. This AMI has been hardened by security professionals to meet the rigorous standards of the PCI DSS.
This AMI delivers a secure, stable, and high-performance environment, ideal for developing and running cloud and enterprise applications. Regularly updated and maintained, this Citadel VM stands at the forefront of reliability and efficiency.
Deploying this image, hardened with the latest open source security frameworks and verified by Citadel Audit, significantly enhances your operational security while reducing costs, time, and associated risks. Tailored to meet PCI compliance standards, it offers a robust foundation for securing sensitive data. However, we recommend customers conduct their own verification using their preferred tools to ensure full compliance.
We've meticulously configured our Citadel VM to incorporate the most effective security recommendations, ensuring maximum protection without compromising the technology's functionality or performance.
This is our recommended default Hardened AMI, backed by our commitment to providing continuous security and maintenance updates, ensuring your infrastructure remains secure and up-to-date with the latest standards.
Highlights
- Current and Consistent: Citadel's hardened images are kept up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates, ensuring you always have the most recent advancements in security and technology at your fingertips.
- Built on open source secure frameworks and validated by Citadel Audit, our solutions offer unparalleled security and reliability, widely accepted by governments and industries. Our community-driven approach safeguards critical infrastructure and sensitive data, proving our commitment to the highest cybersecurity standards. Essential for top-tier security defense.
Details
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Delivery method
Delivery option
64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Latest version
Operating system
OtherLinux 9
Deployed on AWS
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Features and programs
Financing for AWS Marketplace purchases
AWS Marketplace now accepts line of credit payments through the PNC Vendor Finance program. This program is available to select AWS customers in the US, excluding NV, NC, ND, TN, & VT.
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 |
|---|---|
t3.medium Recommended | $0.32 |
t2.micro | $0.14 |
t3.micro | $0.14 |
m7i.large | $0.32 |
m2.2xlarge | $2.40 |
r6i.xlarge | $2.40 |
m6idn.16xlarge | $5.10 |
i3.16xlarge | $5.10 |
r8i-flex.4xlarge | $2.40 |
i3en.metal | $5.10 |
Dimensions summary
You pay by the hour for this hardened, PCI-compliant Rocky Linux 9 image, billed based on the AWS EC2 instance type you run. Each dimension maps to a specific instance size, so pricing scales with the compute, memory, storage, or accelerator capacity you choose. Smaller general-purpose types like t2 and t3 sit at the low end, while memory-optimized, storage-optimized, GPU, and bare-metal types cost more per hour. You select the instance that fits your workload and pay only for the hours it runs. Vendor support is included with the software.
Top-of-mind questions for buyers
You get a Rocky Linux 9 image that is pre-hardened and pre-built for PCI compliance, with documentation included. The image applies over 100 security controls using NIST and DevSec frameworks. Vendor support is included. The hardening and operating system maintenance are handled for you, and the image is updated monthly.
The software fee meters running instance-hours. A fully stopped instance does not accrue the hourly software charge. You may still pay underlying AWS fees, such as storage for the attached volume, while the instance is stopped. The software license charges only for time the instance runs.
Each running instance bills its own hourly software rate for the instance type you choose. Running one hundred instances bills one hundred hourly charges in parallel. There is no volume discount tier built into these dimensions. Your total scales directly with the number and size of instances you run.
www.citadelelement.com
Helpful?
Vendor refund policy
At present, Citadel does not provide refunds. Billing will be only for the actual duration of instance use. Just like other Citadel offerings, our primary objective is to ensure complete satisfaction for all our customers. Should you need further assistance, please reach out to our team directly at support@citadelelement.com .
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) .
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
Monthly security + OS updates - June 2026
Additional details
Usage instructions
Connect over SSH using the key pair selected at launch. The default user is shown above. See the listing's usage instructions for full details.
Resources
Vendor resources
Support
Vendor support
Our skilled support team is prepared to assist with any questions regarding our virtual machine images. For further detailed guidance, we offer on-demand support services at an additional fee. Should you need any assistance, feel free to contact us at support@citadelelement.com . We're always here to help.
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.
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This product has charges associated with it for hardening and maintenance. This Citadel VM is secured using 300+ open source security controls and validated using Citadel Audit.
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