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.
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 delivers a secure, stable, and high-performance environment for developing and running cloud and enterprise applications. Regularly updated and maintained, this Citadel VM embodies the pinnacle of reliability for your operations.
By deploying an image hardened with the Citadel Audit, organizations can significantly enhance efficiency while reducing costs, time, and associated risks. This Citadel VM integrates a comprehensive set of security recommendations leading open-source industry standards, ensuring a robust defense layer without compromising the technology's functionality or utility.
Each VM includes comprehensive documentation and a detailed security report from Citadel Audit, offering insights into the security enhancements and best practices implemented.
This is the recommended default AMI by our security experts at Citadel. We are committed to providing continuous security and maintenance updates for all instances running, ensuring your operations are safeguarded with the latest security 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.
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 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.
You pay by the hour for the running software on your chosen AWS instance. Each dimension maps to a specific ARM64 Graviton instance type, so pricing scales with the size and family you pick. Smaller instances like t4g.nano cost less per hour than larger ones like r8gd.metal-48xl. Instance families cover general-purpose, compute-optimized, memory-optimized, storage-optimized, and burstable workloads. There are no tiers or commitments; you launch the instance size that fits your workload and pay only for hours used. AWS infrastructure charges apply separately from this software fee.
Top-of-mind questions for buyers
What does the hourly software fee actually cover on each instance?
The fee covers the hardened Rocky Linux 8 ARM64 image itself, organized around PCI DSS operating-system requirements. It includes a PCI-focused configuration baseline, monthly patched releases, a per-image evidence pack as published, and access to a US-based support team. Your team still owns application security, architecture, and assessor validation.
Am I charged the software fee when an instance is stopped or powered off?
The software fee meters running hours on the instance you launch. A fully stopped or powered-off instance does not accrue this hourly software charge. Stopped instances may still incur separate AWS storage charges, but those are AWS infrastructure fees billed apart from this software fee.
What does one billing unit map to for these instance dimensions?
Each dimension bills per hour for one running instance of that specific ARM64 Graviton type. One unit equals one active instance-hour of the image on that instance size. Larger sizes within a family carry higher hourly rates. You are billed only for the exact instance type you launch.
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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.
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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
Security patches and package 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.
Support is part of what you get with a Citadel image, and it comes from a US-based team that works on these builds every day. Email support@citadelpci.com with anything - choosing the right image, how the hardening behaves, patching and releases, evidence for a PCI DSS review, or a question you are not sure who else to ask. We read every message, and we would much rather you ask than guess. More about how we work with customers:
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.
This product has charges associated with the pre-built security hardening and recurring maintenance. Deploy a Rocky Linux 8.10 virtual machine hardened with 300+ security controls to support PCI DSS needs. Save time. Launch secure. Accelerate compliance.
This product has charges associated with it for providing hardening and seller premium support. Engineered for mission-critical, regulated environments, this STIG-compliant Rocky Linux 8 image delivers a fully hardened security baseline trusted across government, defense, healthcare, and financial sectors.
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.
This product has charges associated with it for hardening, update maintenance, and seller support. Hardened Rocky Linux 8 (ARM) is rigorously secured following STIG guidelines, recognized through a consensus-driven process as the industry benchmark for secure configuration, optimizing both security and efficiency.
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