Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Shodan VS skipfish

Compare Shodan VS skipfish and see what are their differences

Shodan logo Shodan

Shodan is the world's first search engine for Internet-connected devices.

skipfish logo skipfish

A fully automated, active web application security reconnaissance tool.
  • Shodan Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-16
  • skipfish Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-29

Shodan features and specs

  • Comprehensive Data Collection
    Shodan extensively scans the internet, collecting data from a wide range of devices and services, which provides users with a thorough overview of their network exposure.
  • Security Awareness
    It helps organizations identify and address security vulnerabilities by revealing exposed devices and services that might otherwise go unnoticed.
  • Automation Capabilities
    The platform offers an API that allows users to automate searches and integrate Shodan data into their own tools and workflows.
  • Detailed Search Filters
    Shodan provides advanced search filters that allow users to narrow down results based on specific criteria such as geographic location, device type, or operating system.
  • Real-Time Monitoring
    Users can set up real-time alerts to monitor for new exposures, ensuring timely response to potential threats.

Possible disadvantages of Shodan

  • Ethical and Legal Concerns
    Shodan can be used by malicious actors to identify and exploit vulnerabilities, raising ethical and legal questions about its use and data collection practices.
  • Complex UI
    The user interface can be overwhelming for beginners due to its complexity and the vast amount of data available, making it difficult to navigate without prior experience.
  • Subscription Costs
    While Shodan offers a free tier, accessing advanced features and extensive search capabilities requires a subscription, which might be costly for some users.
  • Potential for False Positives
    The data collected by Shodan might include false positives, where benign devices are flagged as vulnerabilities, thus requiring users to manually verify each finding.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Since Shodan indexes devices connected to the internet, this can include personal and residential hardware, leading to privacy concerns for individuals whose devices are inadvertently exposed.

skipfish features and specs

  • High-Speed Scanning
    Skipfish is designed to be fast, performing HTTP connections and handling multiple requests concurrently, which can significantly reduce the time it takes to scan a web application.
  • Recursive Crawling
    Skipfish employs recursive crawling and wordlists to discover hidden files and directories, providing a more comprehensive assessment of the target web application.
  • Effective Detection
    The tool is capable of identifying a wide range of security issues such as SQL injection, XSS, and other common web vulnerabilities through fuzzing techniques.
  • Minimal False Positives
    Skipfish is known for producing results with fewer false positives compared to other automated scanners, leading to more reliable outputs.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, Skipfish allows users to inspect, modify, and improve upon the source code according to their needs.

Possible disadvantages of skipfish

  • Complexity for Beginners
    The tool can be complex for beginners due to a lack of a graphical user interface (GUI) and the need for command-line proficiency, making it less approachable for those new to web security scanning.
  • Limited Support
    As an archived project on Google Code, Skipfish no longer receives updates or official support, which could be a limitation for users looking for the latest security testing features.
  • Resource Intensive
    The high speed and intensive scanning techniques may consume significant bandwidth and resources, potentially impacting the performance of the network and systems being tested.
  • Lack of Detailed Reporting
    The reporting features of Skipfish are relatively basic and might not meet the needs of users who require extensive details and customization in their security reports.
  • Potential for Overload
    Due to its aggressive scanning nature, there is a risk of overwhelming the target server, especially if not configured properly beforehand.

Shodan videos

Searching the Internet with Shodan (Seen in Mr. Robot)

More videos:

  • Review - Bestech Shodan Unboxing & First Impressions
  • Review - Bestech Shodan FULL Review

skipfish videos

Penetration Test with Skipfish

More videos:

  • Review - Skipfish Web Application Security Scanner Kali Linux tools [Hindi]
  • Review - Information Gathering with Kali Linux : Using skipfish to Explore a Web Server & App|packtpub.com

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Shodan and skipfish)
Security
81 81%
19% 19
Monitoring Tools
79 79%
21% 21
Web Application Security
87 87%
13% 13
Cyber Security
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Shodan and skipfish. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Shodan seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 92 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Shodan mentions (92)

  • Introducing OSINT Template Engine: An open source OSINT Tool.
    Transform OSINT sources such as shodan, bgpview & urlscan into templates which you can use to query & store any and each of the API endpoints they provide. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Some outgoing ports (e.g, port 22) are blocked
    I'm a little surprised you're asking this but as you don't know - if you set the rulebase correctly, you won't get hammered by "public". A lot of people (of course not people here) don't do that which is why shodan.io is full of servers with SSH exposed to the world. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Does anyone want to vet this job opportunity?
    Eh, request a full demo before signing anything. If they make you buy before you can try, move on. Just be advised that data they collect from your site may be used in a database that puts a target on your back. Similar to how shodan.io works. I would probe them on how they handle customer data and if data is shared, partitioned, or isolated to ensure safety from a platform leak. They want to be a security... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Security issue or coincidence?
    My network is being hit by China and Russia many times per hour. Make sure your firewall is up-to-date and not have any services available on the Internet (WAN). Look at shodan.io which shows you _everything_ is searched on the Internet. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Onion sites crawling: Weird mass "HTTP/1.1 200 " HTTP status line returning?
    In the cases of nginx or apache, I suspect they may be acting as proxies to some backend that also chooses not to send a reason phrase back. Searching for "Reason Phrase" yields a number of bug reports/frameworks that may omit it, and shodan.io shows apache tomcat and a few other services/software that omit the code as well. Source: almost 2 years ago
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skipfish mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of skipfish yet. Tracking of skipfish recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Shodan and skipfish, you can also consider the following products

Acunetix - Audit your website security and web applications for SQL injection, Cross site scripting and other...

Censys - Censys helps organizations, individuals, and researchers find and monitor every server on the Internet to reduce exposure and improve security.

Horangi - Horangi is a leading cyber-security solution that provides instant response and threat detection for companies who lack the time and expertise to monitor their system.

Intruder - Intruder is a security monitoring platform for internet-facing systems.

Nessus - Nessus Professional is a security platform designed for businesses who want to protect the security of themselves, their clients, and their customers.

PracticeProtect - Network security & identity management