Senior Threat Research Consultant

Arete IR LLP; Hyderabad; On-site; INR 2,500,000 - 4,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Arete Incident Response is seeking a Senior Threat Research Consultant to advance our cyber threat research program. You will analyze cyber threats, perform malware reverse engineering, and develop detection capabilities to support client needs and Arete’s intelligence offerings.

The role involves collaboration with the TRT Director, tool development, threat hunting in EDR telemetry, and publication of insights across internal and external clients.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Cybersecurity or related field with extensive malware analysis experience.
• Proficiency in reverse engineering, YARA rule development and threat intelligence.
• Experience with EDR platforms and threat hunting in security operations contexts.

Responsibilities

• Perform static and dynamic malware reverse engineering and classify threats.
• Develop threat detection tools and YARA rules for malware classification.
• Produce finished threat intelligence reports and lead client briefings.

Skills

Malware reverse engineering

Threat intelligence

YARA rules development

EDR / threat detection

Threat hunting

Education

Master’s degree in Cybersecurity

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Tools

ThreatConnect

Sandbox environments

Disassemblers & debuggers

Job description

SUMMARY The Senior Threat Research Consultant contributes to Arete’s cyber threat research program by focusing on cybercrime activity, analyzing cyber threats, and uncovering emerging threats. The role involves malware reverse engineering, adversary tracking, threat detection through deep technical analysis and intelligence gathering, and development and innovation. The consultant contributes to the research and publication of threat insights, internal work products, and tailored intelligence products for Arete’s clients and advances Arete’s detection and response capabilities.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Collaborate with the Threat Research team (TRT) Director to design and implement custom tools and automation pipelines to enhance malware analysis, threat detection, and threat hunting capabilitiesPerforms static and dynamic malware reverse engineering and classifies malware families to uncover novel threatsEvaluates and integrates security technologies such as sandboxing solutions, multi-antivirus scanners, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improve TRT capabilitiesDevelops methodologies to classify and correlate malware samples into malware families using static, dynamic, behavioral, and intelligence-based analysisDevelops threat detection tools, mechanisms, and methods to support proactive threat hunting and incident response activitiesConducts threat hunting in endpoint detection and response (EDR) telemetry data to identify hidden threatsAnalyzes internal case reports, raw data, and open-source intelligence to identify emerging cyber threats, trends, and threat actor groupsIdentifies and reports on tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by cyber threat actors to support detection and mitigation strategiesCreates finished intelligence reports, blog posts, and industry insights for internal and external clients to position Arete as a cyber threat intelligence thought leaderInforms internal teams about new threat actor TTPs to strengthen defense and response strategies.Uncovers adversary activity that is not detected by existing rules to improve detection coverageIdentifies intelligence and technology gaps and submits requests to address themResponds to information requests from clients and internal stakeholders to support decision makingPrepares internal presentations to communicate analytical findings and technical insightsAs needed, conducts client briefings through calls, video conferences, webcasts, in-person sessions, or at industry conferencesProvides tactical intelligence and analytical support to Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR), Security Operations Center (SOC), and Managed Detection and Response (MDR) teamsCreates detailed process documentation to standardize workflows and enhance knowledge transferActs as a liaison between the Threat Research Team and internal teams such as Threat Intel, SOC, Incident Response, Managed Security Services, Cyber Product Development, Engineering, and ITFosters a culture of continuous learning, collaboration and innovation across the team and broader organizationMay perform other duties as assigned by management

SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Ability to work effectively in fast-paced, high-volume, and results-driven environments while managing multiple prioritiesAbility to produce high-quality finished intelligence products within tight deadlinesIn-depth knowledge of malicious code, behavior, and use in cybercrime operationsUnderstanding of tools and techniques used in cybercrime operationsFamiliarity with cyber threat intelligence frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK and Diamond ModelExperience working in fast-paced environments alongside Digital Forensics and Incident RespondersKnowledge of: various malware types, including crimeware, ransomware, bots, commodity malware, and nation-state cyber threats ransomware decryptors vulnerability exploitation techniques and detection methods widely used open-source malware analysis tools sandbox environments and dynamic analysis systems network traffic analysis memory forensics and memory analysis techniques log analysis methods across diverse sourcesProficiency in writing and interpreting regular expressionsAbility to reverse engineer diverse malware types, including Go, Rust, C/C++, .NET, Visual Basic scripts, Java scripts, PowerShell scriptsMalicious documents Webshells Shellcode Packed and obfuscated codeExperience using disassemblers and debuggersExperience in anti-analysis techniques and patching code to bypass checksProficiency in working with encoding and encryption algorithmsAbility to write decoding and decryption routines to extract indicators and payloadsExperience developing YARA rules for malware detection and classificationExperience writing custom endpoint detection and response (X_EDR) threat detection mechanisms for platforms such as SentinelOne or CrowdStrikeExperience working with Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIPs) such as ThreatConnect.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Master’s degree in Cybersecurity, Engineering, Computer Science, Information Assurance, or related field with a minimum of 6 years of experience related to the job role. or a Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 8 years of experience related to the job role. 8+ years focused on any combination of the following: malware reverse engineering, anti-analysis techniques, encryption/decryption algorithms, disassemblers/debuggers, patching/exploiting code, detection engineering. Experience: Using disassemblers and debuggers Performing analysis of ransomware and malware associated with extortion threat actor groups and identifying key indicators of malicious activity. Profiling threats, preferably cybercrime threats like ransomware and ransomware precursors. With EDR technology, threat hunting, automated malware analysis sandbox systems, and countermeasure development (e.g., SentinelOne S1QL, CrowdStrike CQL, Microsoft Defender XDR Kusto, Sigma). With automated malware analysis sandbox systems Developing, testing, and maintaining Yara rules Ability to offer after-hours support during critical engagements.

DISCLAIMER

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required by personnel so classified.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

While performing the responsibilities of this position, the work environment characteristics listed below are representative of the environment the employee will encounter: Usual office working conditions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT

Salary and benefits shall be paid consistent with Arete's salary and benefit policy.

DECLARATION

The Arete Incident Response Human Resources Department retains the sole right and discretion to make changes to this job description.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer- and celebrate our employees’ differences, regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or Veteran status. Different makes us better. Arete Incident Response is an outstanding (and growing) company with a very dedicated, fun team. We offer competitive salaries, fully paid benefits including Medical/Dental, Life/Disability Insurance, 401(k) and the opportunity to work with some of the latest and greatest in the fast-growing cyber security industry. When you join Arete… You’ll be doing work that matters alongside other talented people, transforming the way people, businesses, and things connect with each other. Of course, we will offer you great pay and benefits, but we’re about more than that. Arete is a place where you can craft your own path to greatness. Whether you think in code, words, pictures or numbers, find your future at Arete, where experience matters.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer- and celebrate our employees’ differences, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or Veteran status. Different makes us better. Arete Incident Response is an elite team of the world’s leading cybersecurity and digital forensics experts who combat today’s sophisticated cyberattacks. We work tirelessly to provide unparalleled capabilities and solutions throughout the entire cyber incident life cycle. These include incident response readiness assessments and penetration tests as well as post-incident response, remediation, containment, and eradication services. We work in close collaboration with industry leaders and government agencies along with leading cybersecurity technology platforms to deliver an innovative, intelligence-based approach to solving our client’s toughest challenges. If you want to work with the most talented and experienced people in the industry with the desire to be a cyber hunter and industry expert, we want you to be a part of our team.