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 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
- 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.
- Performance Optimized
- Updated Quarterly
Details
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Delivery method
Delivery option
64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Latest version
Operating system
AmazonLinux 2
Deployed on AWS
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Introducing multi-product solutions
You can now purchase comprehensive solutions tailored to use cases and industries.
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 | $0.09 |
t3.micro | $0.09 |
t2.micro | $0.09 |
r5d.12xlarge | $0.175 |
i3.2xlarge | $0.175 |
m5.4xlarge | $0.175 |
r5.large | $0.10 |
r5.8xlarge | $0.175 |
p3.8xlarge | $0.175 |
r5.24xlarge | $0.175 |
Dimensions summary
You pay by the hour for this hardened Amazon Linux 2 image, billed per running instance. Pricing is not tiered. Instead, each rate maps to a specific EC2 instance type you launch. General-purpose, compute-optimized, memory-optimized, storage, GPU, and bare-metal families each carry their own hourly rate. Larger instance sizes within a family cost more per hour than smaller ones, reflecting the compute you run. You choose the instance type that fits your workload, and the software fee applies on top of AWS infrastructure charges. Both x86_64 and Graviton (ARM64) options appear across the listing.
Top-of-mind questions for buyers
You pay a software fee for the hardened Amazon Linux 2 image, metered per running instance-hour. That fee is separate from the AWS infrastructure charge for the EC2 instance itself. Both appear on your AWS bill. The rate you pay depends on which instance type you launch.
The software fee meters running instance-hours only. A fully stopped instance stops accruing the software charge. Underlying AWS storage fees for the attached volume may still apply while the instance is stopped, but the image license charges running time.
The fee covers a maintained, PCI-focused OS baseline refreshed monthly, with a per-image evidence pack as published. Your team still owns PCI scope, application security, cloud architecture, identity, networking, logging, and assessor validation. Support comes from a US-based team for image questions, without a published response-time SLA.
citadelpci.com+2
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Vendor refund policy
No refunds are available but you can cancel your subscription at any time.
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
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.
Resources
Vendor resources
Support
Vendor support
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 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 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 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.
Hardened Amazon Linux 2 is rigorously hardened following the Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIG) standards, which are recognized as the industry's best practice for secure configuration through a consensus-driven process. Please note, this product has charges associated with it for seller support.
Hardened Amazon Linux 2 has been thoroughly hardened and secured following the rigorous Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) guidelines. Please be aware that this product comes with associated charges for seller support, ensuring that you have access to dedicated assistance and resources when needed.
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.
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