What is a Security-Hardened Image?

A hardened image is a pre-configured operating system implementing security best practices, compliance controls, and vulnerability mitigations from day one. Save weeks of manual configuration and reduce security risks by starting with an enterprise-secured foundation.

Who Benefits from Hardened Images?

• Financial Services: Meet PCI-DSS, SOX, Basel III, and GLBA requirements
• Healthcare Providers: Achieve HIPAA/HITECH compliance for ePHI protection
• Government & Defense: Satisfy NIST 800-171, CMMC, FedRAMP, and ITAR controls
• Enterprises Using RHEL: Identical security posture without subscription complexity
• Web Hosting Providers: CloudLinux's expertise in hosting security
• Research Institutions: Stable, secure platform for HPC and data analysis

Why AlmaLinux?

• CloudLinux Backed: 10+ years of enterprise Linux experience
• $1M Annual Commitment: Guaranteed long-term stability
• 1:1 RHEL Binary Compatible: True drop-in replacement
• Fastest RHEL Rebuilds: Typically within 24–48 hours of RHEL releases
• Community Driven: Transparent governance with enterprise backing

Key Security Features

• CIS Level 2 Compliance: Comprehensive security controls exceeding industry standards
• SELinux Enforcing: Military-grade mandatory access controls
• FIPS 140-2 Ready: Validated cryptographic modules for government use
• Supply Chain Security: Signed packages and secure boot ready
• Advanced Threat Protection: Real-time intrusion detection configured

Getting Started

1. Subscribe: Click “Get It Now” on Azure Marketplace and accept the terms
2. Configure: Choose VM size, region, and authentication method
3. Launch: Deploy via Azure Portal, CLI, Bicep, or Terraform
4. Connect: Access your secure VM

ssh -i your-key.pem azureuser@your-vm-ip

Replace azureuser with the username you selected during setup.

Use Cases

• Web Applications: Secure LAMP/LEMP stacks
• Databases: Hardened MySQL/PostgreSQL/MongoDB
• Containers: Secure Kubernetes nodes
• CI/CD: Protected Jenkins/GitLab runners
• Big Data: Secured Hadoop/Spark clusters