“Street view for cyberspace” to provide flawless cyber security

14th February, 2018: Censys, a tech start-up based on technology developed at the University of Michigan, has launched a commercially available version of its internet-wide scanning tool, which is expected to revolutionize the cyber security system world over.

Censys continuously scans the internet, analyzing every publicly visible server and device. It uses the data that comes back to create a dynamic, searchable snapshot of the entire internet.

The concept of the new cyber security system is based on technology developed in the lab of U-M computer science and engineering professor J. Alex Halderman of University of Michigan.

Censys is expected to provide cyber security defense to secure large networks, comprising of constantly changing array of devices ranging from servers to smartphones and internet-of- things devices.

Currently there is no good way for IT experts to get a comprehensive view of their own networks, inadvertently exposing their vulnerabilities to hackers. The comprehensive view of the cyberspace is designed to alter this situation.

According to Halderman, “Network security doesn’t have to be black magic. So much of security practice is based on untested assumptions, but in fact security can be quantified and studied the same way we use data to study human health.”

The idea of Censys Cyber security is not entirely new. “It’s similar to Google Street View, where we’re gathering what’s already publicly visible and making it available in one place,” Halderman said. “To extend the analogy, we just take a picture from the sidewalk. We don’t peek in the door, we don’t jiggle the locks.”