Manual Security Auditing
Manual security auditing is a hands-on process where security professionals systematically review and analyze software, systems, or networks to identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and security weaknesses that automated tools might miss. It involves techniques like code review, penetration testing, configuration analysis, and threat modeling to assess security posture. This methodology relies on human expertise to interpret context, understand business logic, and uncover complex or subtle security issues.
Developers should learn manual security auditing to build more secure applications, especially in high-risk environments like finance, healthcare, or critical infrastructure where automated scans are insufficient. It's crucial during the software development lifecycle (SDLC) for identifying logic flaws, business logic vulnerabilities, and zero-day threats that tools can't detect. Use cases include compliance audits (e.g., PCI-DSS, HIPAA), pre-deployment security assessments, and incident response investigations.