Censys
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersAnn Arbor, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
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.
Censys firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Censys industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Internet Intelligence Platform / Attack Surface Management
- akta.pro primary industry
- DNS Security & Protective DNS (HDADABAF)
Keywords
Where Censys is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ann Arbor
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Censys business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- 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
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise subscription plans tailored to organizational needs |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Censys product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use Censys
Customer profileNamed customers19 records
Segments8 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Censys technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration8 records
AI capability9 records
Feature10 records
Censys partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered regional and core.
- EVADregionalDistribution 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 SecuritycoreIntegration 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 Projectcore10-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 SplunkcoreNative integration with Cisco Splunk for automated alert enrichment and faster security investigations.
- Microsoft SentinelcoreNative integration with Microsoft Sentinel enabling automated SOC workflows and alert enrichment.
- Palo Alto Networks CortexcorePartner-built integration with Palo Alto Networks Cortex for automated response workflows.
- Filigran OpenCTIcorePartner-built integration with Filigran OpenCTI for threat intelligence workflows.
- Rilian TechnologiescoreStrategic 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 BoydcoreFormer 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
Censys competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect 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
Censys social profiles
Digital presenceCensys financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Censys leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Censys funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds7 records
Investors11 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Censys M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Censys
What does Censys do?
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.
Is Censys a public or private company?
Censys is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Censys founded?
Censys was founded in 2015. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Censys based?
Censys is headquartered in Ann Arbor, United States, in the North America region.
How does Censys make money?
One revenue line is on record: subscription-based SaaS Platform Access.
Who are Censys's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Recorded Future, Rapid7 (InsightVM / Surface Command), Shodan and Tenable (Nessus / Tenable.asm). Broad incumbents are CrowdStrike (Falcon Surface), Microsoft (Defender External Attack Surface Management), Mandiant (Google Cloud Threat Intelligence) and Palo Alto Networks (Cortex Xpanse / ASM). Emerging players are BinaryEdge and BitSight.
Does Censys have an API?
Yes. Censys offers an Enrichment API enabling organizations to integrate real-time internet intelligence into their security workflows, allowing enrichment of every alert at scale. The platform provides API access for developers through documentation at docs.censys.com, with developer resources available on the main website. Developer documentation is at docs.censys.com.
What industry is Censys in?
Censys's product category is Internet Intelligence Platform / Attack Surface Management. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDADABAF, DNS Security & Protective DNS.