Censys

What Censys does

Censys is a private, venture-backed internet intelligence company headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, founded in 2017. The company provides a real-time internet intelligence platform used by more than 300,000 security practitioners and organizations representing over 50% of the Fortune 500, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, CISA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Microsoft, CrowdStrike, Walmart, Bank of America, Verizon, and T-Mobile. The platform's primary buyers are SOC teams, attack surface management teams, threat hunters, and government cyber operators that need continuous external visibility into internet-facing assets, adversary infrastructure, and critical infrastructure exposure.

The company's core technology is the Censys Internet Map, a continuously updated map of global Internet infrastructure built on ML-driven scanning pipelines that scan all 65,535 ports. The platform reports 92% accuracy in service detection (vs. 68% for competitors) and an 82% service detection rate (vs. 43%), with new services identified 7-34x faster and data refreshed nearly 10x faster than alternatives. The product portfolio includes Censys Search (infrastructure lookups), Censys Core (enterprise SOC platform with AI-assisted analysis), Adversary Investigation, Attack Surface Management, Critical Infrastructure Monitoring, and an Enrichment API. Recent additions include the Censys Query Assistant (natural language search), the Censys MCP Server (Model Context Protocol for AI agents), and Censys ARC, a dedicated threat research team.

Censys operates a subscription-based SaaS model with quote-based enterprise pricing sold primarily through direct enterprise field sales targeting Fortune 500 enterprises, government agencies, and critical infrastructure providers. The go-to-market combines regional direct sales teams in North America and the META region with channel partners (notably EVAD for Middle East and Africa) and a 55+ integration ecosystem across SIEM, SOAR, and threat intelligence platforms including Cisco Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Google SecOps, and Palo Alto Cortex. The company has raised over $149 million across multiple funding rounds, including a $75 million Series C in October 2023 and a $70 million Series D in March 2026 led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital.

Name

Censys

Legal name

Censys

Website

https://censys.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Censys provides a real-time Internet intelligence platform for threat hunting and exposure management, serving SOC teams, governments, and over 50% of the Fortune 500 with ML-driven Internet scanning, attack surface management, and critical infrastructure monitoring.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Internet Intelligence Platform / Attack Surface Management

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHDADABAF

DNS Security & Protective DNS

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Cybersecurity/Network Security (Perimeter, SASE, Firewalls)

Keywords

• Attack surface management
• Internet intelligence platform
• Threat hunting
• Exposure management
• Adversary investigation

Headquarters

HQ city

Ann Arbor

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription-based SaaS Platform Access: Censys operates as a SaaS platform providing subscription-based access to its Internet intelligence platform. Customers pay for access to the Censys platform, API access, and various modules including ASM, adversary investigation, and critical infrastructure monitoring.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Censys provides an Internet intelligence platform for threat hunting and exposure management, anchored by the Censys Internet Map that continuously discovers and tracks every IP, host, service, and website across all 65,535 ports using ML-driven scanning infrastructure. Customers subscribe to access Censys Search, Censys Core, Attack Surface Management, Adversary Investigation, and Critical Infrastructure Monitoring modules, with enrichment APIs and SOC integrations for alert triage, forensic investigation, M&A due diligence, and protection of internet-facing and industrial control assets.

Product overview

Censys offers an integrated Internet intelligence platform rather than standalone products. The core platform is built on the Censys Internet Map, which provides real-time, authoritative data about global Internet infrastructure. Key products include Censys Search for quick infrastructure lookups, Censys Core for enterprise SOC teams with AI-assisted analysis capabilities, Adversary Investigation for threat actor infrastructure tracking, Attack Surface Management for continuous monitoring of internet-facing assets, and Critical Infrastructure Monitoring for operational technology environments. The platform is enhanced by specialized tools including the Enrichment API, Query Assistant for natural language queries, MCP Server for AI developers, and the ARC threat research team. Recent updates include real-time risk scoring and expanded adversary intelligence. The ecosystem includes 55+ integrations across SIEM, SOAR, and threat intelligence platforms. The company is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with over 300,000 security practitioners using the platform globally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Censys ARC: Censys Advanced Research Collective - a dedicated team focused on Internet threat research and exposure visibility, producing threat intelligence and security research.
• Censys Search
• Censys Core
• Censys ASM (Attack Surface Management)

Products and services

• Censys Core Enterprise platform providing SOC teams with triage capabilities, automated alert enrichment, AI-assisted analysis, investigation workflows, and unlimited enrichment APIs for security operations.
• Censys Search Quick lookup product for hosts, services, certificates, and infrastructure across the global Internet, providing security teams with visibility into adversary threats, vulnerabilities, and exposed assets.
• Attack Surface Management Continuously identifies and monitors internet-facing assets tied to an organization, including cloud environments and unmanaged services, and supports personalized risk prioritization based on likelihood of exploitation.
• Adversary Investigation Provides threat actor infrastructure tracking, compromise detection, attacker-controlled infrastructure identification, and new attack method discovery for threat intelligence and threat hunting teams.
• Critical Infrastructure Monitoring Specialized monitoring for internet-exposed operational technology and other critical systems, supporting defense of industrial control systems that are critical to national security.
• Censys Internet Map The authoritative, continuously updated map of global Internet infrastructure providing real-time data on every IP, host, service, certificate, and website across all 65,535 ports; foundation dataset for the Censys platform.
• Enrichment API API enabling organizations to integrate real-time Censys Internet intelligence directly into their security workflows for alert enrichment, threat validation, and triage at scale.
• Censys Internet Intelligence Platform Comprehensive subscription platform providing Internet intelligence and insights, bundling the Censys Internet Map, Censys Search, Censys Core, Attack Surface Management, Adversary Investigation, Critical Infrastructure Monitoring, AI-powered query tools, and integrations for enterprise security organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• A large European MSSP reported that Censys helps their SOC reach conclusions 25% faster on true versus false-positive investigations.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

AI capability9 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered regional and core.

• EVADregionalChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 16 June 2026Distribution partnership expanding availability of the Censys Platform across the Middle East and Africa. Organizations in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain gain access to Censys' Internet intelligence via EVAD's established partner ecosystem and regional technical expertise.
• Google Cloud SecuritycoreTechnology or Integration · 6 May 2026Integration partnership to embed Censys Attack Surface Management and Internet intelligence capabilities into Google SecOps SIEM and SOAR. Helps security teams monitor external exposure, triage suspicious infrastructure faster with built-in enrichment, and reduce manual pivots across monitoring workflows.
• The Vertex ProjectcoreTechnology or Integration · 5 May 202610-year partnership milestone integrating Censys Internet intelligence into the Synapse platform for threat detection and investigation workflows. Enables security analysts to enrich, correlate, and investigate data within existing workflows, supporting customer retention and expanded contract value.
• Cisco SplunkcoreTechnology or Integration · 23 April 2026Native integration with Cisco Splunk for automated alert enrichment and faster security investigations.
• Microsoft SentinelcoreTechnology or Integration · 23 April 2026Native integration with Microsoft Sentinel enabling automated SOC workflows and alert enrichment.
• Palo Alto Networks CortexcoreTechnology or Integration · 23 April 2026Partner-built integration with Palo Alto Networks Cortex for automated response workflows.
• Filigran OpenCTIcoreTechnology or Integration · 23 April 2026Partner-built integration with Filigran OpenCTI for threat intelligence workflows.
• Rilian TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 December 2025Strategic partnership to deliver Internet intelligence and ICS/OT visibility solutions to government and commercial organizations across the Middle East. Combines Censys' Internet and industrial control system intelligence with Rilian's AI-native defense platform for national cybersecurity efforts. Supports critical infrastructure protection in the region including energy operators, financial institutions, and national cybersecurity authorities.
• Andy BoydcoreOthers · 26 October 2023Former CIA Cyber Intelligence Director Andy Boyd added to the board as part of the Series C funding.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Recorded Future: Recorded Future is a threat intelligence platform that ingests large-scale internet and dark-web telemetry (similar to Censys Internet Map) and overlays adversary attribution and risk scoring. Both compete for the same SOC/threat-intel budget with overlapping use cases in adversary tracking and alert enrichment.
• Rapid7 (InsightVM / Surface Command): Rapid7 offers exposure management (InsightVM) and external attack-surface capabilities (Surface Command) targeting the same mid-market and enterprise security operations persona as Censys. Closely comparable subscription SaaS economics and go-to-market motion.
• Shodan: Shodan is the closest direct competitor to Censys in internet-wide device and service scanning. Both provide searchable indexes of internet-facing infrastructure for security research and asset discovery; Censys explicitly cites analysts who compare it to 'Shodan on steroids.' Same product category, similar buyer persona.
• Tenable (Nessus / Tenable.asm): Tenable is a public cybersecurity peer with an Attack Surface Management module (Tenable.asm) that performs external scanning and exposure prioritization — the same core capability as Censys ASM. Comparable target buyer (enterprise security teams) and overlapping workflows in vulnerability and exposure management.

Broad incumbents

• CrowdStrike (Falcon Surface): CrowdStrike's Falcon Surface provides external attack-surface management as part of its endpoint/cloud security suite. Listed as a Censys customer and as an ecosystem participant, CrowdStrike represents the most direct 'platform-bundled EASM' competitor in the same SOC buyer accounts.
• Microsoft (Defender External Attack Surface Management): Microsoft Defender EASM is bundled with E5 licenses and Azure, providing first-party external scanning at near-zero incremental cost to Microsoft customers. Censys lists Microsoft as both a partner (Sentinel integration) and a named customer — a classic incumbent risk to a focused competitor.
• Mandiant (Google Cloud Threat Intelligence): Mandiant, now part of Google Cloud, provides threat intelligence and adversary tracking that overlaps directly with Censys' Adversary Investigation module. Comparable use cases (attribution, threat actor infrastructure mapping) and the same regulatory-adjacent customer set.
• Palo Alto Networks (Cortex Xpanse / ASM): Palo Alto Networks bundles external attack-surface management (Cortex Xpanse/ASM) into its broader security platform — directly overlapping with Censys ASM and a partner of Censys at the same time. Larger installed base and broader portfolio make it the most relevant broad incumbent competing for ASM budget.

Emerging players

• BinaryEdge: BinaryEdge is a smaller, Switzerland-based internet scanning and threat intelligence platform offering capabilities similar to Censys Search and the Censys Internet Map. Niche overlap in exposure discovery, though at smaller scale.
• BitSight: BitSight provides external attack-surface and security ratings used by enterprise security and third-party risk teams — comparable to Censys' M&A and subsidiary risk use cases. Overlapping buyer (CISO / TPRM) and adjacent data set.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/censysio
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@censys7491
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/censysio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors12 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Censys