Staff Security Research Engineer

Proofpoint; Wales; Remote; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading cybersecurity company in the United Kingdom is seeking a Senior Security Research Engineer to join their Threat Research team. The candidate will focus on analyzing threats and developing detection strategies to safeguard customers. Ideal candidates will possess strong threat research and malware analysis skills. This role offers competitive compensation and a flexible work environment.

Benefits

Competitive compensation

Flexible work environment

Learning & Development programs

Qualifications

• Passion for threat research with a strong understanding of the security threat landscape.
• Experience identifying and defending against malware and phishing threats.
• Familiarity with browser internals and document formats used maliciously.

Responsibilities

• Analyse malware and classify threats such as phishing and BEC.
• Develop and deploy detection signatures to mitigate threats.
• Respond to escalations that cannot be addressed by customer support.

Skills

Threat research

Malware analysis

Critical thinking

Regular expressions

Python

Tools

YARA

ClamAV

Job description

Overview

About Proofpoint: We are the leader in human-centric cybersecurity with half a million customers, including 87 of the Fortune 100. 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: vulnerabilities in people. 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 are dedicated to helping our customers protect their greatest assets and biggest security risk: their people.

The role

This highly technical role has a direct and real-time impact on protecting Proofpoint customers. As a Senior Security Research Engineer on Proofpoint’s Threat Research team, you’ll be part of an amazing, collaborative, industry-leading team focused on tracking threat actors, malware, phishing, and TTPs to develop static and dynamic (behavioural) signatures that detect and prevent threats on a massive scale. If you enjoy keeping abreast of and analysing attacker techniques, malware and phishing campaigns, and using that knowledge to counteract those threats on a broad scale, then this is the role for you. This role has an absolute and direct impact on the efficacy of Proofpoint products, the quality of Proofpoint’s intelligence, and the protection of Proofpoint customers.

Your day-to-day

• Stay abreast of a constantly evolving threat landscape including the credential phishing landscape
• Analyse malware, malicious documents, and malicious URLs provided by internal and external sources
• Conduct in-depth analysis of email messages to detect and classify threats such as business email compromise (BEC), phishing, and other malicious campaigns
• Apply critical thinking skills to identify the most efficient and effective way to mitigate the analysed threat
• Develop, test, and deploy appropriate static and/or behavioural signatures to mitigate the analysed threat
• Identify, prioritize, and fill coverage gaps for relevant threats to minimize customer impact
• Respond to customer FN/FP escalations that cannot be addressed by customer support
• Work effectively as part of a remote team using chat, video chat and conference calls
• Work with engineering teams, defining requirements, for the continuous improvement of critical detection capabilities

What you bring to the team

• A passion for threat research and a well-rounded yet deep understanding of the security threat landscape; demonstrable understanding of the malware and credential phishing landscape, TTPs, and experience overcoming bypass techniques
• Experience proactively identifying, responding to, and defending against malware and credential phishing threats in production environments
• Familiarity with browser internals and the Document Object Model; broad understanding of document formats commonly used for malicious purposes (e.g. OLE, CDFv2, PDF, OpenOffice, RTF)
• Experience parsing and analysing malicious documents; experience leveraging sandbox environments as an analysis tool
• Critical thinking: able to develop high quality detection signatures based on analysis of malicious behaviour
• Experience creating YARA and/or ClamAV signatures used in production environments
• Regular expression wizardry; Intermediate-level Python experience
• Interest in learning sandbox engineering concepts and contributing ideas to extend capabilities (a plus)
• Interest in creating synthetic malicious samples to test capabilities (a plus)
• Willing and able to work independently and collaboratively as part of a distributed team of industry-leading security researchers; a hard-working, self-directed team player fully capable of working remotely

Why Proofpoint

Protecting people is at the heart of our award-winning lineup of cybersecurity solutions, and the people who work here are the key to our success. We’re a customer-focused and driven-to-win organization with leading-edge products. We are an inclusive, diverse, multinational company that believes in culture fit, but more importantly ‘culture-add’, and we strongly encourage people from all walks of life to apply. We believe in hiring the best and the brightest to help cultivate our culture of collaboration and appreciation. Apply today and explore your future at Proofpoint!

Our Culture

Our culture is rooted in values that inspire belonging, empower purpose and drive success—every day, for everyone. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. If you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please reach out to [e-mail]. How to Apply: Interested? Submit your application here: https://www.proofpoint.com/us/company/careers

Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Comprehensive benefits
• Learning & Development: programs including leadership and professional development workshops, stretch project assignments, and mentoring opportunities
• Flexible work environment: remote options, hybrid schedules, flexible hours
• Annual wellness and community outreach days
• Always on recognition for your contributions
• Global collaboration and networking opportunities

EEO statement: We are an equal opportunity employer. If you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact [e-mail].