InSpec is a tool that allows users to write security and compliance tests as human-readable code (or "profiles") that can be run on systems to check configurations and identify issues. Profiles can test for things like required SSH settings, file permissions, and package/patch levels. Profiles are run using the InSpec command line tool and can test local systems or remote targets like Linux servers. When profiles detect failures, they return non-zero exit codes to fail automation jobs. This allows InSpec to integrate with configuration management and infrastructure as code tools for continuous compliance monitoring.