CIS Hardened Images Support a Department of Defense (DoD) Aerospace Program
The Challenge: Outdated Software and High Security Standards
A prominent Department of Defense (DoD) program tasked with developing next-generation aircrafts faced significant challenges with legacy infrastructure and outdated software development practices. Traditional approaches were too slow and inflexible to keep up with the fast-evolving needs of the fleet, causing delays in critical software updates and hindering operational readiness. In addition, maintaining security and ensuring compliance with stringent government standards, such as the Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG), became increasingly complex and resource-intensive. The program needed a solution that could meet both operational demands and high security standards in a rapidly changing environment.
The Solution: Modernized and Secure Workloads
To address these challenges, the program adopted Amazon Web Services (AWS), leveraging AWS GovCloud (US) for secure and compliant cloud infrastructure. AWS services like Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Solution (S3), and Kubernetes helped modernize the program’s environment, enabling scalable, flexible, and efficient development workflows. The use of CIS Hardened Images on Amazon EC2, pre-configured to meet STIG compliance, ensured that all cloud workloads were securely configured from the start, minimizing vulnerabilities and simplifying the management of compliance requirements. This approach streamlined the deployment of secure workloads, enabling faster and more reliable application updates.
The Impact: Scalability Offering Flexibility and Cost Savings
The transition to AWS delivered transformative benefits for the program. Software deployment cycles were significantly accelerated, reducing time-to-market from years to just days. The integration of CIS Hardened Images on Amazon EC2 strengthened security and ensured that compliance requirements were consistently met, without the need for complex manual configurations. AWS’s elastic infrastructure allowed the program to scale resources dynamically to meet changing operational demands, providing both flexibility and cost efficiency. Furthermore, the modernized cloud environment fostered better collaboration across development, security, and operations teams, increasing overall productivity.
