HackMyAgent vs Manual Security Audit
Manual MCP security audits take hours and miss configuration gaps. HackMyAgent runs 310 static checks in seconds, catches what humans skip, and provides auto-remediation with rollback.
HackMyAgent
by OpenA2A
Automated security toolkit for AI agents. 310 static checks across 69categories including credential exposure, prompt injection, MCP server misconfigurations, and supply chain risks. Runs in seconds with auto-remediation and rollback.
Manual Security Audit
Human-led review
A security engineer manually reviews configurations, code, and dependencies for vulnerabilities. Thoroughness depends on the reviewer's knowledge of AI-specific attack vectors, which is a new and rapidly evolving domain.
Key Distinction: Encoded Attack Patterns vs Reviewer Knowledge
Manual audits depend on the reviewer knowing every attack vector. AI agent security is a new field. Most security engineers haven't encountered MCP server poisoning, prompt injection via tool descriptions, or Claude Code hook exploitation. HackMyAgent encodes these attack patterns into automated checks.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | HackMyAgent | Manual Audit |
|---|---|---|
| Time to complete | Seconds | Hours to days |
| Security checks | 310 static across 69 categories, plus 29 NanoMind semantic | Depends on reviewer |
| Attack payloads | 164 built-in across 16 categories | Requires custom scripts |
| Credential scanning | Automated | Manual file review |
| MCP server security | Dedicated checks | Often overlooked |
| Prompt injection testing | Static checks plus attack mode | Rarely tested |
| Claude Code configuration | Dedicated checks | Requires deep knowledge |
| Supply chain / dependencies | Automated (DEP category) | npm audit + manual review |
| Network security | Dedicated checks | Varies |
| Auto-remediation | With rollback | Manual fixes |
| OASB benchmark mapping | Built-in compliance | No standard benchmark |
| CVE detection | Automated | Depends on tooling |
| Repeatable | Every commit / CI | Point-in-time |
| Output formats | Text, JSON, SARIF, HTML | PDF report (custom) |
| Cost | Free (Apache-2.0) | $5K – $50K per engagement |
Typical published list-price range; verify with the vendor.
When to Choose Each Approach
Choose HackMyAgent if you...
- Need consistent, repeatable security checks
- Run AI agents with MCP servers
- Want to test in CI/CD pipelines on every commit
- Need attack mode to simulate real adversaries
- Want auto-remediation with safe rollback
- Need OASB benchmark compliance reports
- Want JSON/SARIF output for SIEM integration
Choose Manual Audit if you...
- Need business logic review specific to your application
- Want a human threat model of your unique architecture
- Need compliance documentation for a specific framework
- Want penetration testing beyond automated checks
- Your organization requires a named auditor's signature
- Need to assess organizational security processes
- You want both: use HackMyAgent first, then manual audit for gaps
Time to Complete a Full Security Scan
< 30 seconds
with HackMyAgent
2–5 days
with Manual Audit
Automated vs Manual: Side by Side
One command covers 310 static checks and 29 NanoMind semantic checks. Manual checklists cover what the reviewer remembers.
HackMyAgent: Automated Scan
$ npx hackmyagent@0.32.0 secure --ci
Scanning ./fake-vulnerable-agent...
fake-vulnerable-agent v1.0.0 · openclaw · 30 files analyzed
36 critical issues found
Security ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 0/100
Checks 310 static declared · 61 of 61 check groups ran · 3 unreachable
· 30 semantic (NanoMind AST, 0-7 of 7 analyzer families)
· 36 files read by static checks
Categories credentials (7 critical) · MCP (2 critical) · network (2 critical)
· prompt (21 high) · sandbox (2 high) · capabilities (1 critical)
· supply-chain (1 critical) · governance (1 high) · skill (19 critical)
· identity (1 high) · A2A (1 high) · LLM risk (1 critical)
· heartbeat (1 critical) · config (1 high) · auth (1 critical)
· git hygiene (1 critical) · 9 others clear
Verdict Not safe to ship. .env Not Ignored in .env + 114 more.
36 critical 50 high 28 medium 1 low
│ CRITICAL .env Not Ignored
│ .env
│ → hackmyagent secure --fixExcerpt of a run against an intentionally vulnerable test fixture, captured 2026-08-25. The findings and their counts belong to that fixture.
Manual Audit: Checklist
# Manual MCP Security Audit Checklist
# Time estimate: 2-5 days
[ ] Review all .env files for exposed credentials
[ ] Check MCP server configurations
[ ] Test each tool description for injection vectors
[ ] Audit Claude Code settings.json
[ ] Review network egress rules
[ ] Check dependency versions for CVEs
[ ] Test prompt injection resistance
[ ] Verify sandbox configuration
[ ] Review file permission model
[ ] Check authentication mechanisms
[ ] Audit logging configuration
[ ] Test session management
[ ] Review rate limiting
[ ] Check API security headers
# ...more items, as many as the reviewer remembers
# Common gaps in manual audits:
# - MCP tool description injection (new attack vector)
# - Claude Code hook exploitation
# - Gateway credential exposure
# - Missing OASB benchmark mappingScan your project
310 static checks. 29 NanoMind semantic checks. 164 attack payloads. Auto-remediation with rollback. Open source, Apache-2.0.
Apache-2.0 license. Scans Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and any MCP server