CIS Hardened Images Now in Microsoft Azure Marketplace

CIS Hardened Images, which are pre-hardened virtual machine images, allow you to spin up a securely configured, or hardened, virtual instance of many popular operating systems to perform technical tasks without investing in additional hardware and related expenses. Microsoft Azure is a major cloud provider of virtual machine images – and one of four where CIS offers Hardened Images.

Benefits of Hardened Images

 

CIS Hardened Images are pre-configured to the security recommendations of the CIS Benchmarks, consensus-based configuration guidelines developed (and relied upon) by cybersecurity experts around the world.

The CIS Benchmarks are internationally recognized and used by thousands of businesses to improve their cybersecurity defenses.

CIS Hardened Images have been hardened to either the Level 1 or Level 2 CIS Benchmark profile. A Level 1 CIS Benchmark profile meets minimum and essential security requirements, while a Level 2 profile provides more advanced settings for situations where security is paramount.

You can enjoy several benefits by using CIS Hardened Images, including the following:

• Help mitigate malware, denial of service, insufficient authorization, and overlapping trust boundary threats
• Avoid misconfiguration and other instances of human error that are common in instances of manual hardening
• Use the final CIS-CAT Pro Assessor report included with each CIS Hardened Image to verify the image's compliance with the corresponding CIS Benchmark
• Deploy pre-hardened virtual images that CIS is responsible for hardening and regularly patching
• Pay just $0.02 per compute hour for each pre-hardened virtual image, thus saving time and money on hardware purchasing, software licensing, and maintenance

Here’s how you can deliver security in the cloud with the CIS Hardened Images.

 

 

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure is a growing collection of integrated cloud services that developers and IT professionals use to build, deploy, and manage applications through its global network of data centers. According to Microsoft, 90% of Fortune 500 companies trust the Microsoft Cloud. Azure has a rigorous methodology and focuses on security, privacy, compliance, and transparency.

Here's a list of CIS Benchmarks available for Microsoft Azure.

Tested by Microsoft

All CIS Hardened Images that are available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace are certified to run on Microsoft Azure. They have been pre-tested for readiness and compatibility with the Microsoft Azure public cloud, Microsoft Cloud Platform hosted by service providers through the Cloud OS Network, and on-premises private cloud Windows Server Hyper-V deployments managed by customers. This testing process helps deliver the highest-quality experience.

Want to learn how one customer used CIS Hardened Images in Microsoft Azure Marketplace to meet their customers' needs? Check out our video below and their case study here.

 

 

CIS Hardened Images and Microsoft Azure

CIS Hardened Images for Microsoft Windows 11 Enterprise and  Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise are among the CIS offerings that are certified to run on Microsoft Azure. No matter what your application, CIS Hardened Images help keep you safe in the cloud.