CIS hardening components

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a community-driven nonprofit organization. Their cybersecurity experts work together to develop IT security guidelines that safeguard public and private organizations against cyber threats. Their globally recognized set of best practices, known as CIS Benchmarks, help IT organizations around the world to securely configure their systems. For trending articles, blog posts, podcasts, webinars, and whitepapers, see CIS Insights on the Center for Internet Security website.

CIS Benchmarks

CIS creates and maintains a set of configuration guidelines, known as the CIS Benchmarks, which provide configuration best practices for specific technologies, including operating systems, cloud platforms, applications, databases, and more. CIS Benchmarks are recognized as an industry standard by organizations and standards such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, DoD Cloud Computing SRG, FISMA, DFARS, and FEDRAMP. To learn more, see CIS Benchmarks on the Center for Internet Security website.

CIS hardening components

When you subscribe to a CIS Hardened Image in AWS Marketplace, you also get access to the associated hardening component that runs a script to enforce CIS Benchmarks Level 1 guidelines for your configuration. The CIS organization owns and maintains CIS hardening components to ensure that they reflect the latest guidelines.