Top 9 Internet Search Engines Used by Security Researchers

We all know what internet search engines are, and why they're used. Even when you want to search for the most mundane thing ever, you can go to Google, Bing, Safari, or any of the other traditional web browsers. But what if you need access to information not usually found on those popular search engines? Security professionals often need to quickly look up and correlate data during Osint, reconnaissance, discovering vulnerabilities, finding security breaches in networks, and more. Fortunately, there are search engines in their arsenal of tools that are designed to be used by hackers and professionals. These can provide valuable data for their security operations. Search engines used by security professionals, are valuable tools for both red teams and blue teams, as well as security researchers, analysts, and others. These tools can help in finding exposed devices, tracking threats, preparing for spear phishing simulations, and much, much more in the area of security operations. The 9 best search engines for Infosec Professionals We have tested and aggregated a list of the best search engines often used by security professionals—and anyone wanting to perform a deeper search than those offered with traditional search engines like Google. And we’re not talking about private search engines; we've already compiled a list dedicated to the best private search engines to ensure data privacy while online. This list identifies search engines that help security professionals obtain information about connected devices, private information on individuals (in a more curated manner than that provided by traditional search engines), breached credentials, and more. Let's start here: 1. Shodan Being called both "the search engine for hackers" as well as "the world's first search engine for Internet-connected devices", it's easy to guess why Shodan is the first logical choice. Shodan is a network security monitor and search engine that indexes data from any type of electronic device that's ever been connected to the Internet. And by any type, we mean it: webcams, routers, servers, smart TVs, refrigerators, traffic lights, heating systems, and much, much more. Imagine Google, but instead of seeing the usual images next to different websites and their content, on Shodan you see results in various forms including IP addresses, types of devices, country, and of course SSH, Telnet, and HTTP server banners. But the real value of Shodan is in its ability to help both red teams and blue teams. For the defenders, Shodan can play an important role in providing visibility to their devices and open ports, and even search for device vulnerabilities to some known exploits. Basically, blue teams are able to retrieve Osint data and identify devices they need to secure. Simultaneously, Shodan helps red teams and penetration testers with reconnaissance and information gathering, even going as far as discovering security flaws in target devices. Shodan also offers one of the best cybersecurity APIs out there for anyone wanting to integrate their services into apps, with great documentation and libraries that make it easy to set up. Some of the Shodan API's features are support for Python, Ruby, PHP, C#, Go, Hackell, Java, Node.js, Perl, PowerShell and Rust, REST API, network alerts, on-demand scanning, and a streaming API used to watch real-time data feeds. 2. Censys Right next to Shodan, we have Censys. Censys is similar to Shodan in that it monitors every device exposed on the Internet, and in the form of a search engine, provides data and aggregates reports on how devices, websites and certificates are configured and deployed. Censys constantly collects information on connected devices and internet servers to help you get the most accurate data about any device connected to the internet, along with details on open ports, protocols and valid certificates. It also identifies server versions, unpatched vulnerabilities, routers, OS vers...