Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Shodan: The scariest search engine on the Internet
CNN Money ^ | April 8, 2013 | David Goldman

Posted on 08/02/2013 8:07:06 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

"When people don't see stuff on Google, they think no one can find it. That's not true."

That's according to John Matherly, creator of Shodan, the scariest search engine on the Internet.

Unlike Google, which crawls the Web looking for websites, Shodan navigates the Internet's back channels. It's a kind of "dark" Google, looking for the servers, webcams, printers, routers and all the other stuff that is connected to and makes up the Internet. (Shodan's site was slow to load Monday following the publication of this story.)

Shodan runs 24/7 and collects information on about 500 million connected devices and services each month.

It's stunning what can be found with a simple search on Shodan. Countless traffic lights, security cameras, home automation devices and heating systems are connected to the Internet and easy to spot.

Shodan searchers have found control systems for a water park, a gas station, a hotel wine cooler and a crematorium. Cybersecurity researchers have even located command and control systems for nuclear power plants and a particle-accelerating cyclotron by using Shodan.

What's really noteworthy about Shodan's ability to find all of this -- and what makes Shodan so scary -- is that very few of those devices have any kind of security built into them.....

(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: cyberthreats; google; hackers; hacking; internet; malware; searchengine; searchengines; shodan
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-51 next last

1 posted on 08/02/2013 8:07:06 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

um huh

sounds like some bad things could happen

could we use this to see what Mikey Moore is doing on his XBOX right now?


2 posted on 08/02/2013 8:09:23 PM PDT by GeronL
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

“Shodan” is the name of an evil super computer from the games System Shock and System Shock 2. Both probably came out in the late 90s. Quite good.


3 posted on 08/02/2013 8:15:21 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

I have been on the Internet since its inception ... never heard of Shodon.


4 posted on 08/02/2013 8:17:23 PM PDT by doc1019 (Get our troops the hell out of the ME)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet; a fool in paradise

Sho, Dan!


5 posted on 08/02/2013 8:18:35 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Admin

Admin


6 posted on 08/02/2013 8:18:49 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

I think I must be using the beta version, Slodan. Smirk...


7 posted on 08/02/2013 8:20:32 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Kill the bill... Begin enforcing our current laws, signed by President Ronald Reagan.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet; COUNTrecount; Nowhere Man; FightThePower!; C. Edmund Wright; jacob allen; ...

Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!

To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don’t add you to the list...

8 posted on 08/02/2013 8:23:55 PM PDT by null and void (You don't know what "cutting edge" means till you insult Mohammed.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blackangus
Ma'am photo a-tip-o-the-hat-to-you.jpg
9 posted on 08/02/2013 8:26:24 PM PDT by null and void (You don't know what "cutting edge" means till you insult Mohammed.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

So they let us snoop on staff meetings? Meeting that everyone there would cut off their arm off to avoid?

OK just what I’ve been waiting for.


10 posted on 08/02/2013 8:27:27 PM PDT by DManA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: doc1019

same. tho he created it three years ago and probably hasn’t made it very public

people should realize that however scary this is... it was only created by a small group (single guy?) as a hobby/test.

imagine what a large organization with an unlimited budget hell bent on accessing and collecting all possible data could put together...

then realize they already have it.

any agent can access it with a simple client called XKeyscore


11 posted on 08/02/2013 8:29:05 PM PDT by sten (fighting tyranny never goes out of style)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

I would not connect anything at home but a home computer to the internet.


12 posted on 08/02/2013 8:29:31 PM PDT by Proud2BeRight
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Time to turn off all the Wind Turbines so the raptors can have a propeller-free weekend.


13 posted on 08/02/2013 8:29:53 PM PDT by Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America (If Americans were as concerned for their country as Egyptians are, Obama would be ousted!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sten

Thanks


14 posted on 08/02/2013 8:31:49 PM PDT by doc1019 (Get our troops the hell out of the ME)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
Here's a good video explaining it from a LayerOne security conference
15 posted on 08/02/2013 8:32:26 PM PDT by ParityErr (It's impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GeronL

You don’t want to know.


16 posted on 08/02/2013 8:41:20 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Interestingly (or not) Shodan was the name of the villain in a couple of cult-classic sci-fi/cyberpunk video games from the 1990s - System Shock/System Shock 2. SHODAN was an AI that went insane and began reprogramming (with malicious intent) cyberspace and all the systems she was connected to.

One wonders if the Shodan website’s name is a nod to that...


17 posted on 08/02/2013 9:01:05 PM PDT by DemforBush (Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

5 Tips to Protect Networks Against Shodan Searches
http://www.esecurityplanet.com/network-security/5-tips-to-protect-networks-against-shodan-searches.html


18 posted on 08/02/2013 9:09:20 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of rotten politics smelled around the planet.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ParityErr

Very interesting. Thanks for the link.


19 posted on 08/02/2013 9:10:14 PM PDT by PA Engineer (Liberate America from the Occupation Media.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
Shodan searchers have found control systems for a water park, a gas station, a hotel wine cooler and a crematorium.

Huh. What do you make of that? They can't all walk into a bar, can they?

20 posted on 08/02/2013 9:10:50 PM PDT by Fester Chugabrew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-51 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson