This product has charges associated with the pre-built security hardening and recurring maintenance. Deploy a Ubuntu 24.04 virtual machine with 300+ security controls already applied. Start secure. Stay secure. Save weeks of work.
This Ubuntu 24.04 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.
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.
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.
You pay by the hour for a hardened Ubuntu 24.04 machine image. Each pricing line maps to a specific AWS EC2 instance type. You are not buying tiers or feature bundles here. Instead, you pick the instance that matches your needed compute, memory, storage, or GPU capacity. The hourly software rate scales with instance size, so smaller instances like t3.nano cost less per hour than large ones like p5.48xlarge. Your total cost combines this software rate with separate AWS infrastructure charges. Every instance runs the same NIST-hardened image maintained by the vendor.
Top-of-mind questions for buyers
What do I get for the hourly rate on a given instance line?
Each line maps to one AWS EC2 instance type running the hardened Ubuntu 24.04 image. You pay the software rate per running instance-hour. The image includes NIST-based hardening and is maintained and updated by the vendor. Larger instance types carry higher hourly software rates than smaller ones.
Am I charged the software rate when an instance is stopped or powered off?
The software rate meters running time. A fully stopped instance does not accrue software charges. Stopped instances may still incur separate AWS storage fees for attached volumes. Software charges resume when you start the instance again.
How does my total cost combine the software rate with AWS charges?
Two charges apply at the same time. The software rate covers the hardened image per instance-hour. Separate AWS infrastructure charges cover the underlying compute, storage, and data transfer. Both appear on your AWS bill. Running more instances or larger types raises both parts.
www.citadelelement.com
Helpful?
Vendor refund policy
Refunds are not available. Billing will be assessed per the standard billing terms of the applicable cloud service provider.
How can we make this page better?
Tell us how we can improve this page, or report an issue with this product.
Give us feedbackReport a problem with this product or seller
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.
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.
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.
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 Ubuntu 24.04 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 it for security hardening and GUI/RDP access.
AWS-based virtual desktop with the latest Ubuntu 24.04 LTS image pre-configured with GUI/RDP access and hardened and optimized for security and compliance.
PCI Compliant / Hardened Ubuntu 24.04 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.
Be the first to review this product. We've partnered with PeerSpot to gather customer feedback. You can share your experience by writing or recording a review, or scheduling a call with a PeerSpot analyst.