Censys Enhances Critical Infrastructure Protection with Unmatched Internet Visibility

New ICS/OT offering delivers comprehensive vendor, protocol, and HMI coverage — empowering both commercial and government defenders to identify, detect, and secure exposed industrial systems.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Censys, the authority for Internet Intelligence and insights, today announced the release of a new ICS/OT Internet intelligence offering designed to close the visibility gap defenders face in securing exposed industrial assets.

From energy and manufacturing to defense and utilities, organizations across industries face growing risks as IT and OT networks converge. Adversaries have long used automated tools to identify ICS/OT assets at scale, while defenders were left with blind spots, inconsistent data, and little ability to validate ownership or context. The result: critical assets often remain exposed for months, creating high-value entry points into industrial environments.

Censys's new ICS/OT intelligence offering closes this gap — bringing the same level of Internet-scale visibility to defenders that attackers already exploit. It combines protocol-aware scanning, vendor-level fingerprinting, and rich contextual data into a unified, easy-to-query resource that supports exposure validation, threat hunting, and compliance workflows.

Technical Capabilities

• Comprehensive Protocol & Vendor Coverage: 26 ICS/OT protocols (Modbus, DNP3, Siemens S7, BACnet, and more), 68 vendors, and 226 unique ICS fingerprints.
  
  
• HMI Contextual Intelligence: Automatic screen captures from CMORE, RedLion, X11, VNC, and RDP with content analysis to support investigations and asset validation.
  
  
• Evidence for Exposure Hunting: Sole-source screenshots and enriched metadata, eliminating ambiguity in asset identification.
  
  
• Analyst-Centric Design: Queryable via UI and API, with SIEM/SOAR integration and geographic or vendor-level filtering.

Built on Real-World Impact

This launch builds on Censys' proven track record working with U.S. government partners. In collaboration with the EPA, Censys helped secure hundreds of exposed water sector HMIs, a project that demonstrated how enriched ICS intelligence could translate directly into reduced real-world risk (read more here).

"Censys' mission has always been to bring clarity and visibility to the world's most critical digital risks. Our work with the EPA to identify and secure exposed water sector HMIs proved just how essential Internet-scale visibility is for protecting critical infrastructure," said Raj Sivasankar, senior director of product at Censys, "The new Censys ICS/OT offering builds directly on that mission — giving defenders the same level of actionable insight that adversaries already exploit at scale."

Industry Perspective

"Industrial control systems are high-value targets for cyber actors," said Laura Galante, former director of the U.S. Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, "You can't defend what you can't see, and Censys is providing critical infrastructure operators visibility into their exposed assets. Censys' focus on operational technology is strengthening the resilience of our most vital systems.

Resources & Links

• Censys Working With the EPA to Secure Hundreds of Exposed HMIs
• Critical Infrastructure Roundtable Webinar (October 21th, 2025) with CISA, EPA, Schneider Electric, and Sandia National Labs
• 2025 Censys State of the Internet Report
• Censys Energy Utility Industry Solution Page

About Censys
Censys is the authority for Internet intelligence and insights. Delivering the most complete, accurate, and up-to-date global map of Internet infrastructure, Censys provides industry leading solutions for attack surface management, threat hunting, and proactive incident response. Global governments, Fortune 500 companies, and security providers around the world trust Censys to uncover risks faster, respond more effectively, and prevent breaches before they happen.

Learn more at censys.com

SOURCE Censys