Staff Security Research Engineer

Overview Join to apply for the Staff Security Research Engineer role at Proofpoint . About Us: We are the leader in human-centric cybersecurity. We’re driven by a mission to stay ahead of bad actors and safeguard the digital world. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people. How We Work: At Proofpoint, you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity, guided by our BRAVE core values: Bold in how we dream and innovate, Responsive to feedback, challenges, and opportunities, Accountable for results and best-in-class outcomes, Visionary in future-focused problem-solving, Exceptional in execution and impact. Corporate Overview: Proofpoint is a leading cybersecurity company protecting organizations’ greatest assets and biggest risks. With an integrated suite of cloud-based solutions, Proofpoint helps companies around the world stop targeted threats, safeguard their data, and make their users more resilient against cyber-attacks. We support many Fortune 1000 organizations with people-centric security and compliance solutions across email, the cloud, social media, and the web. Protection Starts with People. Responsibilities Design and develop software using a variety of languages, primarily Python, with little external guidance, while providing technical leadership to guide other software engineers on the team Modify existing web-based UI for internal tools to maintain and extend the sandbox submission and report UI for Proofpoint threat researchers Write C or C++ for low-level interactions with the OS as needed Develop and maintain web browser interaction capabilities using Chrome WebDriver Analyze and reverse engineer JavaScript that fingerprints web browser artifacts to identify sandbox web browsers or instrumentation, and innovate solutions to defeat those checks Familiarity with analyzing web front-end DOM Develop and maintain software for processing network traffic, including TLS decryption and processing PCAP files Collaborate with threat analysts and detection engineers who research threat actors and write detection rules that run on the systems you develop As needed, create new detection languages and systems for threat researchers to develop detection rules Add features to existing threat detection languages to enable greater flexibility for threat researchers to automate website interactions and detect threat patterns Leverage AI Large Language Models where appropriate to enhance threat detection pipelines, test evasion countermeasures, and decide when AI adds value Design and develop automation pipelines to turn manual tasks into automated scripts Stay abreast of a constantly evolving threat landscape and understand TTPs used by threat actors to bypass detection environments Provide expert assistance to threat researchers and analysts analyzing phishing websites and security research or red team demonstrations of new evasion techniques As needed, support sandbox countermeasure development and reverse engineering of malware executable files for Windows (primary malware reverse engineering responsibilities rest on other roles) Apply critical thinking to identify efficient ways to mitigate threats and evasions Collaborate effectively as part of a remote team using chat, video, and conference calls Work with other engineering teams to define requirements for continuous improvement of critical detection capabilities What You Bring To The Team As a Security Research Engineer on Proofpoint’s Threat Research team, you’ll be part of a collaborative, industry-leading team focused on tracking threat actors, malware, phishing, and TTPs and responding to the changing threat landscape with software that detects and prevents threats from reaching Proofpoint customers. If you enjoy analyzing attacker techniques and using that knowledge to counteract threats with innovative software solutions, this is the role for you. A passion for threat research and a deep understanding of the security threat landscape and actor TTPs, especially countermeasures for evasions and sandbox detection Ability to write production-grade, reliable Python code with instrumentation for observability and error monitoring Experience developing software using Docker containers Experience developing web browser automation Experience analyzing network traffic for threat detection with solid understanding of TLS, HTTP, and other network protocols Willingness to work independently and as part of a distributed team Ability to work in a fully remote environment The following skills and experience are nice to have: Experience with C and C++ Experience developing Windows API hooks and researching undocumented Windows APIs Experience writing malware behavior signatures Some experience analyzing malware using a debugger and willingness to learn Experience with static reverse engineering tools (IDA Pro, Ghidra, Binary Ninja, etc.) is a plus Ability to interpret forensic output from dynamic analysis (sandbox) environments Experience with various malware sandboxes (e.g., Cuckoo, Joe Sandbox, Any Run, Triage) Additional Information Travel 1% - 10% (flexible) mainly for team collaboration or security conferences Location: Canada (Remote), US (Remote), Argentina (Remote), UK (Remote), Ireland (Remote), Germany (Remote), France (Remote), Switzerland (Remote) Must be able to work during business hours local to your time-zone Why Proofpoint We are a customer-focused, innovative company with leading edge products. We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package, flexible work options, and opportunities for growth. We value collaboration and global teamwork and encourage applications from diverse backgrounds. Pay transparency and equity information is provided, including base pay ranges by location and notes on variable compensation and benefits. The actual offer will be based on the candidate’s experience. Base Pay Ranges SF Bay Area, New York City Metro Area: 194,475.00 - 285,230.00 USD California (excludes SF Bay Area) and other specified states: 162,375.00 - 238,150.00 USD All other cities and states: 148,425.00 - 217,690.00 USD Seniority level Not Applicable Employment type Full-time Job function Engineering and Information Technology Industries: Computer and Network Security and Software Development Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Proofpoint by 2x How to Apply Interested? Submit your application here: We can’t wait to hear from you #J-18808-Ljbffr