Censys.io
Censys.io is a powerful cybersecurity intelligence platform designed to help security professionals, researchers, and analysts discover, monitor, and assess internet-connected assets. Here's a detailed breakdown of how it works and why it's valuable for host discovery and security analysis:
What Is Censys.io?
Censys.io is a search engine and data platform that continuously scans the public internet to catalog exposed devices, servers, and services. It provides structured, searchable data about:
- IP addresses
- Open ports and services
- SSL/TLS certificates
- Software versions
- DNS records
- Geolocation and routing data
How Censys Works
Censys uses internet-wide scanning to probe every IPv4 address and popular domain names. It performs:
- Protocol handshakes to identify running services
- TLS certificate parsing for security analysis
- Port scanning across all 65,535 ports
- Metadata enrichment using third-party sources like IPInfo and RouteViews
This data is then indexed and made available via:
- A web interface for interactive search
- An API for automation and integration
- BigQuery and raw data formats for advanced analysis
Key Features
- GeoIP Information: Uses IP geolocation APIs to provide location data for hosts.
- Service Summaries: Lists exposed services, ports, and protocols for each host.
- Certificate Search: Tracks SSL/TLS certificates and their chains.
- Web Properties: Identifies websites, APIs, and apps with detailed HTTP response data.
- Advanced Query Language: Enables precise searches using structured fields like host.services.port or web.endpoints.banne.
Use Cases
- Attack Surface Management: Identify and reduce exposed services and misconfigurations.
- Threat Hunting: Discover vulnerable or suspicious systems.
- Reconnaissance: Used by ethical hackers and penetration testers for OSCP and CEH prep.
- Compliance & Monitoring: Track changes in internet-facing infrastructure over time.
No comments:
Post a Comment