Internet Census Group seeks to measure the global Internet with non-intrusive data collection techniques in order to analyze trends and benchmark security performance across a broad range of industries.
We provide some of this data to system operators so they can remediate any issues. We are committed to the education and long-term improvement of security practices across the Internet to provide an ever-stronger defense against the threat of security attacks.
Our standard data collection techniques involve making a series of non-intrusive connection attempts to publicly accessible computers and devices on the internet. We typically just make a standard connection request to an online system, and – in the cases where the systems are responsive – we will attempt an RFC-compliant protocol handshake.
We use other techniques only when these processes will not provide us with enough information to provide actionable data that our customers and partners can use to protect themselves.
Wherever possible, we only collect security data that would be visible to any entity that attempted to connect to a particular address and port.
We will never attempt to bypass access controls or change device configurations. We will never attempt to circumvent password protections or utilize security exploits (through brute force attacks or otherwise).
We are committed to upholding the security and privacy of the entire online community. As part of that mission, we maintain a list of entities that have contacted us and wish to prevent us from attempting to access their addresses or ports.
To get added to this list, provide us with the domain(s) and/or IP’s you wish to remove, and email that information to: optout@internet-census.org. You will receive a confirmation email when completed.