An automated method for checking the adequacy of security in a distributed computing environment (DCE) consisting of a client and a server(s). The method comprises of first loading a DCE security tool on the DCE server/client machine. The security is a software application which instantiates the security checks of the invention. The DCE security tool is executed on the DCE by entering an executable command on the client or the server. This causes the DCE security tool to automatically search for security violations or warnings and output a resulting report with any violation or warning found.