Censys

Censys operates what it describes as an authoritative, continuously updated map of global Internet infrastructure, built on first-party Internet-wide scanning. The data underpins a platform that security teams use to look up hosts, services, certificates and related infrastructure; identify their own Internet-facing assets, including cloud and unmanaged services; assess third-party and supplier exposure; and track adversary infrastructure such as malicious domains, phishing infrastructure and command-and-control servers.

The product line includes Censys Search for infrastructure lookups, Censys Core, Attack Surface Management for continuous discovery and prioritization of exposures, Adversary Investigation for threat hunting and incident response, and Critical Infrastructure Monitoring for Internet-exposed industrial control and operational technology systems. An enrichment API allows Censys data to be pushed into SIEM, SOAR and threat-intelligence platform workflows. The company also runs a research arm, Censys ARC, publishing threat intelligence, rapid response advisories and reports such as the 2025 State of the Internet Report.

Founding story

Censys grew out of academic research on fast Internet-wide scanning at the University of Michigan, where founder Zakir Durumeric invented ZMap in 2013 to demonstrate that broad Internet measurement could improve security at scale. The project became a free-standing company in 2017. The company describes itself as founded by researchers and cybersecurity practitioners motivated by the absence of trustworthy Internet intelligence in their own investigations.

Business model

Censys sells subscription access to its Internet intelligence platform and products (Search, Core, Attack Surface Management, Adversary Investigation, Critical Infrastructure Monitoring), with published pricing tiers, demo-led enterprise sales, an enrichment API for integration into customer security tooling, and a free community tier that has attracted hundreds of thousands of users.

Commercial platform subscriptions and enterprise contracts alongside a free community offering; the company reported record first-half 2026 growth attributed to enterprise adoption of its Internet intelligence.

Traction

More than 300,000 security practitioners are reported as users, with organizations representing over 50% of the Fortune 500 among customers; the company reported surpassing 350,000 total community users in 2023 and announced record first-half 2026 growth.

Latest developments

In March 2026 Censys announced a $40 million Series D led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital plus $30 million in debt financing, to fund AI-driven security operations products and global expansion. It also announced the expansion of its Internet Map to include real-time DNS intelligence, reported record first-half 2026 growth, and continues publishing ARC research such as an analysis of a previously undocumented Russian .NET access framework.