diff --git a/assets/aws-cli-public-key.asc b/assets/aws-cli-public-key.asc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b415d17d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/assets/aws-cli-public-key.asc
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
+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+=ptgS
+-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main.py b/src/main.py
index e3bd03a45..7595e4ebe 100644
--- a/src/main.py
+++ b/src/main.py
@@ -126,6 +126,11 @@ def _copy_static_files(base_version_dir, new_version_dir, new_version_major, run
     for f in glob.glob(os.path.relpath(f"{base_path}/Dockerfile")):
         shutil.copy2(f, new_version_dir)
 
+    # Copy AWS CLI public key from assets
+    aws_cli_key_path = os.path.relpath(f"assets/aws-cli-public-key.asc")
+    if os.path.exists(aws_cli_key_path):
+        shutil.copy2(aws_cli_key_path, new_version_dir)
+
     if int(new_version_major) >= 1:
         # dirs directory doesn't exist for v0. It was introduced only for v1
         dirs_relative_path = os.path.relpath(f"{base_path}/dirs")
diff --git a/template/v2/Dockerfile b/template/v2/Dockerfile
index c04dde066..dd49adb22 100644
--- a/template/v2/Dockerfile
+++ b/template/v2/Dockerfile
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ RUN usermod "--login=${NB_USER}" "--home=/home/${NB_USER}" --move-home "-u ${NB_
 ENV MAMBA_USER=$NB_USER
 ENV USER=$NB_USER
 
+COPY aws-cli-public-key.asc /tmp/
+
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y && \
     apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends sudo gettext-base wget curl unzip git rsync build-essential openssh-client nano cron less mandoc jq ca-certificates gnupg && \
     # We just install tzdata below but leave default time zone as UTC. This helps packages like Pandas to function correctly.
@@ -57,10 +59,13 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y && \
     touch /etc/krb5.conf.lock && chown ${NB_USER}:${MAMBA_USER} /etc/krb5.conf* && \
     # Note that we do NOT run `rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*` here. If we did, anyone building on top of our images will
     # not be able to run any `apt-get install` commands and that would hamper customizability of the images.
-    curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip" && \
-    unzip awscliv2.zip && \
-    sudo ./aws/install && \
-    rm -rf aws awscliv2.zip && \
+    curl -O "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" && \
+    curl -O "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip.sig" && \
+    gpg --import /tmp/aws-cli-public-key.asc && \
+    gpg --verify awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip.sig awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip && \
+    unzip awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip && \
+    ./aws/install && \
+    rm -rf aws awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip.sig aws-cli-public-key.asc && \
     : && \
     echo "source /usr/local/bin/_activate_current_env.sh" | tee --append /etc/profile && \
 # CodeEditor - create server, user data dirs
diff --git a/template/v3/Dockerfile b/template/v3/Dockerfile
index 92754a045..232f76fec 100644
--- a/template/v3/Dockerfile
+++ b/template/v3/Dockerfile
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ RUN usermod "--login=${NB_USER}" "--home=/home/${NB_USER}" --move-home "-u ${NB_
 ENV MAMBA_USER=$NB_USER
 ENV USER=$NB_USER
 
+COPY aws-cli-public-key.asc /tmp/
+
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y && \
     apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends sudo gettext-base wget curl unzip git rsync build-essential openssh-client nano cron less mandoc jq ca-certificates gnupg && \
     # We just install tzdata below but leave default time zone as UTC. This helps packages like Pandas to function correctly.
@@ -57,10 +59,13 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y && \
     touch /etc/krb5.conf.lock && chown ${NB_USER}:${MAMBA_USER} /etc/krb5.conf* && \
     # Note that we do NOT run `rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*` here. If we did, anyone building on top of our images will
     # not be able to run any `apt-get install` commands and that would hamper customizability of the images.
-    curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip" && \
-    unzip awscliv2.zip && \
-    sudo ./aws/install && \
-    rm -rf aws awscliv2.zip && \
+    curl -O "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" && \
+    curl -O "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip.sig" && \
+    gpg --import /tmp/aws-cli-public-key.asc && \
+    gpg --verify awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip.sig awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip && \
+    unzip awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip && \
+    ./aws/install && \
+    rm -rf aws awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip.sig aws-cli-public-key.asc && \
     : && \
     echo "source /usr/local/bin/_activate_current_env.sh" | tee --append /etc/profile && \
 # CodeEditor - create server, user data dirs