Damballa’s Research team is always on the hunt for the most talented security researchers on the planet. This week we’re looking to recruit a Senior Researcher within the Statistics and Algorithms team. The role is based in sunny Atalanta.
The job specification is as follows…
Internet security is evolving at an increasingly rapid pace. As the thrust and parry of attack vectors and defensive tactics force technologies to advance, the biggest security threat now facing enterprise organizations lies with botnets and targeted attacks. The Damballa Research team spearheads global threat research and targeted threat detection innovation.
Damballa’s dedicated research team is responsible for threat analysis and detection innovation. From our Internet observation portals, and using the latest investigative technologies to intercept and capture samples, the research team studies the techniques employed by criminal botnet operators to command and control their victim hordes – mapping their spread and evolution – and developing new technologies to both detect and thwart the threat.
As a Senior Research Analyst you would be part of the team responsible for masterminding the core technologies of Damballa’s products – working on advanced pattern detection algorithms, massive data collection and analysis solutions, prototyping new detection systems, and advancing large-scale applications that deliver actionable threat intelligence.
The rapid evolution of the threat means that, as a Senior Researcher, you will perform statistical analysis on massive sets of network-derived data and develop efficient algorithms to distinguish between malicious and benign activity. Source data includes Domain Name Service usage, Internet Protocol network flow records and packet payloads, packed and unpacked forms of software, and other data related to Internet usage.
Collaborating with the marketing and engineering teams, the Senior Researcher will typically need to design and construct analysis tools that automate the extraction of threat intelligence and make it available to the company’s other technologies.
Responsibilities:
- Development of tools to convert unstructured data to partially- or fully-structured representations
- Development of tools to process massive sets of data (structured or not) and derive statistical information
- Development of mathematical and statistical models for distinguishing malicious from benign content or usage
- Constructs and conducts experiments to measure efficacy and accuracy of algorithms
- Research in to new methods for detecting and reporting botnet activities based on *flow and/or DNS
- Contribution to research and commercial papers describing the evolving botnet threat
Skills & Experience:
- Statistical analysis of network traffic (*flow and/or DNS)
- Development and testing of statistical pattern recognition systems
- Familiar with malware analysis and dissection techniques
Requirements:
- PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics or Physics – or similar academic pedigree
- Outstanding understanding of Network and System security
- Proficient with Unix (Linux preferred) development and production environment
- Excellent formal communication and presentation skills
- Published in top tier academic security conferences (e.g. IEEE S&P, USENIX Sec, CCS, RAID, NDSS, ACSAC)
