Snip!t from collection of Alan Dix

<p>Unlike <span>Google</span> <span>(<span class="inlink_chart"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=GOOG&amp;source=story_quote_link" class="inlink">GOOG</a></span>, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/11207.html?iid=EL">Fortune 500</a>)</span>, 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. (<a href="http://www.shodanhq.com/" target="_blank">Shodan's site </a>was slow to load Monday following the publication of this story.) </p> <p> Shodan runs 24/7 and collects information on about 500 million connected devices and services each month. </p> <p> It's stunning what can be found with a simple search on Shodan. Countless traffic lights, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/23/technology/flaws-in-videoconferencing-systems-put-boardrooms-at-risk.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=1&amp;" target="_blank">security cameras</a>, home automation devices and heating systems are connected to the Internet and easy to spot. </p> <p> Shodan searchers have found control systems for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=5cWck_xcH64" target="_blank">a water park</a>, a gas station, a hotel wine cooler and a crematorium. Cybersecurity researchers have even located <a href="http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/pdf/ICS-CERT_Monthly_Monitor_Oct-Dec2012.pdf" target="_blank">command and control systems</a> for nuclear power plants and a <a href="https://twitter.com/reversemode/statuses/12790110166" target="_blank">particle-accelerating cyclotron</a> by using Shodan. </p>