Hacker-Friendly Search Engine that Lists Every Internet-Connected Device

Meet an all-new Hacker’s Search Engine similar to Shodan – Censys.

At the end of last month, security researchers from SEC Consult found that the lazy manufacturers of home routers and Internet of Things (IoT) devices have been re-using the same set of hard-coded cryptographic keys, leaving around 3 millions of IoT devices open to mass hijacking.

But how did the researchers get this number?

Researchers uncovered these devices with the help of Censys – a new search engine that daily scans the whole Internet for all the vulnerable devices.

Censys Maintains Complete Database of Everything on The Internet

Censys is similar to hacker's search engine Shodan, which is designed specifically to locate any devices that have been carelessly plugged into the Internet without much attempt at preventing unauthorized access.

However, Censys employs a more advanced method to find vulnerabilities in the devices and make the Internet a safer place.

Censys is a free search engine that was originally released in October by researchers from the University of Michigan and is powered by the world's biggest search engine Google.

Censys is part of an open source project that aims at maintaining a "complete database of everything on the Internet," helping researchers and companies unearth Online security mishaps and vulnerabilities in products and services.

How Does Censys Work?

Censys collects information on hosts and websites via daily scans of the IPv4 address space – the internet protocol version 4 that routes the majority of the Internet traffic today.

In order to do so, the new search engine uses two companion tools:

• ZMap – an open-source network scanner
• ZGrab – an application layer scanner

Censys then maintains a database of how hosts and websites are configured, allowing researchers to query the data through a search interface, report builder, and SQL engine.

ZMap scans over 4 Billion IP addresses on the Internet and collects new data every day. It also helps determine whether the machines on the internet have security vulnerabilities that should be fixed before being exploited by the hackers.

"We have found everything from ATMs and bank safes to industrial control systems for power plants. It's kind of scary," said Zakir Durumeric, the researcher leading the Censys project at the University of Michigan.

Obvious flaws in addition to issues caused by IT administrator failures can also be found.

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Internet-connected Hello Barbie doll can be hacked

The iconic toy becomes a connected device, and promptly gets pegged for security issues.

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In news that should surprise no one, connecting a toy to the Internet invites the risk of hacking.

So it went with Hello Barbie, which lets children converse with the doll over a cloud server connection. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, BlueBox Security and independent researcher Andrew Hay uncovered several vulnerabilities in the toy, the worst of which could allow an attacker to intercept a child’s communications.

The good news is that ToyTalk, which partnered with Mattel on Hello Barbie, has been very responsive to the findings according to BlueBox. The companies have already fixed many of the issues, which first came to their attention in mid-November.

Some of those issues pertained to the companion Hello Barbie app for iOS and Android. For instance, attackers could modify the app to reveal credential passwords and other confidential information. The app would also automatically connect to any unsecured Wi-Fi network with “Barbie” in the name, allowing an attacker to set up a spoof network and intercept data.

On the service side, ToyTalk’s server domain was susceptible to a known SSL encryption flaw called POODLE, which could allow attackers to steal communications and other data. A credentialing issue could also let attackers probe for further vulnerabilities.

BlueBox says these vulnerabilities prove the need for “self-defending apps,” which actively monitor for potential attacks. “If the mobile app is capable of defending itself against attack, then some of the issues found in this report could be inherently prevented,” BlueBox’s report said.

Why this matters: For Hello Barbie buyers, there probably isn’t much cause for alarm, given that the odds of an attack are fairly remote and most of the venues have already been cut off. But this case, along with the recent hack of VTech, underscore the broader potential risks of Internet-connected toys. For parents, it’s a scary path to go down, as no device maker can ever guarantee that their product is hack-proof. At best, these companies can only show that they’re quick to respond when vulnerabilities do arise.

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