Short on time?
But Shodan wasnt designed by hackers, and hackers arent usually the ones using it.
But keep in mind that searching with Shodan is a little more complicated than a basic Google search.
What Is Shodan?
Shodan is a search engine similar to Google.
But while Google searches for websites, Shodan searches for devices that are connected to the internet.
Shodan started in 2003 as a pet project for a young computer programmer, John Matherly.
Matherly released Shodan to the public in 2009.
How Does Shodan Work?
Shodan crawls the web for devices using a global online grid of computers and servers that are running 24/7.
Internet-connected devices have specific ports that are designed to transmit certain kinds of data.
Shodan works by knocking at every imaginable port of every possible IP address, all day, every day.
What Can You Find on Shodan?
Any rig connected to the internet can potentially show up in a Shodan search.
However, Shodan does reveal just how much of our information is publicly available.
In fact, webcams are one of the most commonly searched terms on Shodans Explore page.
To test Shodan, I wanted to find all Cisco devices in New York City.
I started off with a simple search for: [Cisco].
But I didnt really feel like sorting through themillions of resultsmyself.
So I went a step further and used a simple search for [Cisco and New York City].
To search for specific keywords in specific locations, you should probably use Shodans search filters.
Shodan is most commonly used to help users identify potential security issues with their devices.
As we become more plugged in, our chances of falling victim to a malicious attack get higher.
However, home users looking to secure their connection wont find Shodan very useful.
Can Shodan Expose Your Private Data?
But its not likely.
Shodan has made identifying IoT devices accessible to anyone with an internet connection and a web surfing app.
Unfortunately, there are many individuals out there who will use Shodan with malicious intent.
Shodan has been repeatedly used by researchers to demonstrate vulnerabilities at the professional and home level.
Hackers use botnets to crawl networks for vulnerabilities in the exact same way that Shodan does.
Shodan is a search engine that scans the entirety of the internet for connected devices.
What can Shodan be used for?
Shodan can be used tofind vulnerabilitiesin your devices security.
How do I use Shodan?
Themost basic Shodan searcheswill give you results by country, data pipe, ports, and operating systems.
Is Shodan legal?
Shodan merely gathers information thats already publicly available forreference purposes.
Shodan doesnt secretly gather information it isnt allowed to have.
Instead, it collects information already available on the internet.
