Martijn Grooten with Censys

Industrial Talk/BCC is talking to Martijn Grooten, Principal Security Researcher at Censys about "State of the Internet Report".

Overview

The discussion examined findings from Censys’ State of the Internet Report and their implications for organizational cybersecurity. Report Findings

The report uses Censys’ internet-wide data to describe exposed services, vulnerabilities, threats, and infrastructure; it provides evidence rather than prescriptive guidance. Many vulnerabilities are patched by vendors, but organizations often delay applying updates. HTTP services are frequently found on nonstandard ports.

Exposure Risks

About 80% of internet-visible hosts running industrial control system services also run a non-ICS service, such as HTTP, SSH, or FTP, expanding potential attack surfaces. Public-facing AI infrastructure grew 63% during the nine-month period covered. Among observed n8n hosts, 76% had at least one vulnerability with a severity score above 9; patches existed, but updates were not applied promptly. Threat actors select hosting providers based partly on permissiveness and resistance to takedowns. Shadow IT and shadow AI can arise when employees use unofficial tools to get work done.

Outline

Report Purpose

Censys shares data from its internet-wide observations to inform cybersecurity professionals and organizations. The report describes exposure and trends rather than providing detailed remediation instructions.

Vulnerabilities and Protocols

Vulnerabilities are routinely discovered and patched, but organizations may be slow to install updates. Services such as HTTP can run on nonstandard ports, so monitoring only default ports may miss exposed services.

Industrial Systems

About 80% of observed hosts running an industrial control system service also ran a non-ICS service, including HTTP, SSH, or FTP. These additional services can broaden the attack surface of industrial environments.

Threat Infrastructure

Threat actors choose hosting providers based on cost, functionality, and permissiveness, rather than choosing infrastructure by country alone. The report observes phishing pages and command-and-control servers, not malware activity on individual computers.

AI and Shadow IT

Public internet-facing AI infrastructure grew 63% during the report’s covered period. Many observed n8n hosts had severe known vulnerabilities; the interview emphasized delayed patching. Unofficial tools and AI use can create security risks when organizational systems do not meet employees’ work needs.

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