Glossary — Security & Compliance

What is Security Audit?

1 min read Updated

A security audit is a comprehensive review of a system's security posture — examining code, architecture, access controls, and operational practices to identify vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

WHY IT MATTERS

Security audits in crypto go beyond smart contract code review. A comprehensive audit examines: smart contract logic, economic model, oracle dependencies, access control, upgrade mechanisms, deployment procedures, and operational security.

The audit ecosystem includes: traditional firms (Trail of Bits, OpenZeppelin), competitive platforms (Code4rena, Sherlock), automated tools (Slither, Mythril), and formal verification services (Certora).

Audit best practices: multiple independent audits, continuous auditing for upgradeable contracts, public audit reports, bug bounty programs, and incident response planning.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many audits should a protocol have?
At least two independent audits from reputable firms before handling significant funds. Additional audits for major upgrades. Ongoing auditing or competitive audit programs for evolving codebases.
What do audit reports contain?
Findings categorized by severity (critical, high, medium, low, informational), descriptions of vulnerabilities, proof of concept exploits, and recommended fixes. The protocol's responses and fixes are included.
Can I audit a protocol myself?
If you have the skills, yes — it's open source. The audit reports are typically public. Reading audit reports (even without auditing yourself) gives insight into the protocol's security posture and risk areas.

FURTHER READING

ENFORCE POLICIES ON EVERY TOOL CALL

Intercept is the open-source MCP proxy that enforces YAML policies on AI agent tool calls. No code changes needed.

View on GitHub