DCTR-15

Are you using your cloud provider's available hardening tools or pre-hardened images?

Explanation

This question is asking whether your organization utilizes the security hardening features provided by your cloud service provider (CSP) to strengthen your cloud infrastructure. Cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud offer various security tools and pre-hardened images (virtual machine templates with security controls already configured) that help reduce security vulnerabilities in your cloud environment. These can include: 1. Pre-hardened virtual machine images that come with security configurations already applied 2. Security configuration tools that can scan and enforce security best practices 3. Infrastructure hardening services that automatically apply security patches and configurations The question is being asked in a security assessment because using these provider-supplied hardening tools demonstrates that you're taking advantage of built-in security capabilities, which is generally considered a best practice. Cloud providers invest significant resources in developing security tools specific to their environments, and not using them could indicate missed security opportunities. When answering this question, you should: 1. Clearly state whether you use cloud provider hardening tools or pre-hardened images 2. Specify which tools or images you use 3. Briefly explain how these tools are integrated into your deployment processes 4. Mention any supplemental hardening you perform beyond the provider's tools

Example Responses

Example Response 1

Yes, we extensively use AWS's hardening tools and pre-hardened images across our cloud infrastructure We deploy Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) that are CIS-hardened as our baseline for all EC2 instances Additionally, we utilize AWS Security Hub to continuously evaluate our resources against AWS security best practices and industry standards We've implemented AWS Config rules to automatically remediate common security misconfigurations, and we use Systems Manager to ensure consistent patching across our environment These provider tools are complemented by our own custom hardening scripts that apply organization-specific security controls during deployment.

Example Response 2

Yes, our organization leverages Microsoft Azure's security hardening capabilities throughout our cloud environment We deploy all virtual machines using Azure Compute Gallery images that have been hardened according to CIS benchmarks We've implemented Azure Security Center at the Premium tier to continuously monitor security configurations and receive hardening recommendations Azure Policy is used to enforce security standards and automatically remediate non-compliant resources Additionally, we utilize Azure Automation to apply security patches and maintain consistent security configurations across our environment.

Example Response 3

No, we currently do not use our cloud provider's hardening tools or pre-hardened images Our organization has developed custom VM images and hardening procedures based on our specific security requirements that pre-date our cloud migration While we recognize the value of cloud-native security tools, we're in the process of evaluating how to integrate them with our existing security framework We plan to implement Google Cloud's Security Command Center and OS Login within the next quarter, and we're currently testing their Container-Optimized OS for our containerized workloads In the meantime, we apply our own hardening scripts to standard images during deployment.

Context

Tab: Infrastructure
Category: Datacenter