---
schema_version: "newruntime-reader-dossiers-v1"
type: "reader_dossier"
slug: "censysinspect"
kind: "scanner"
operator: "Censys"
researched_at: "2026-10-23"
confidence: "high"
json_url: "https://newruntime.com/readers/censysinspect.json"
canonical_url: "https://newruntime.com/readers/censysinspect/"
---

# CensysInspect

> Censys's internet-wide scanner; HTTP scans identify as CensysInspect and collect service information for the Censys search/attack-surface dataset without attempting authentication.

## Dossier

- Kind: Scanners & probes
- Operator: Censys (https://censys.com/)
- Documentation: https://docs.censys.com/docs/opt-out-of-data-collection
- robots.txt tokens: none documented
- Feeds: security scan, research
- Respects robots.txt: Not documented. Not a robots.txt crawler; opt-out is by firewalling published IP ranges/ASNs.
- Verification: Published IP ranges (https://docs.censys.com/docs/opt-out-of-data-collection)
- Labels matched in our logs: censysinspect

## Why it matters to New Runtime (our interpretation)

Infrastructure scanning, not readership; exclude from audience counts.

## Observed behaviour

- Baseline 2026-10-23 (93-day window): 779 requests on 67 days; first seen 2026-07-23, last seen 2026-10-23; Regular.
- Live numbers: https://newruntime.com/bot-traffic-history.json and https://newruntime.com/crawler-journeys.json

## Sources

- https://docs.censys.com/docs/opt-out-of-data-collection

Identity: A family name is what a client claims in its user agent. It is verified only when its request came from the operator's published IP ranges or passed forward-confirmed reverse DNS, as reported per family in /crawler-journeys.json. Anyone can claim any name.

All dossiers: https://newruntime.com/readers.md