Global Incident Response Forensic Analyst

IBM; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM’s Cyber Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) is seeking a high-performing Incident Response Forensic Analyst to support the investigation and response to cybersecurity incidents across the Americas region.

The role sits at the intersection of incident response, digital forensics, and threat analysis, partnering with responders, threat detection teams, and leadership to investigate security events, preserve forensic evidence, and drive timely containment and remediation.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience in Incident Response, SOC and/or Digital Forensics in a global corporate environment.
• Strong digital forensics expertise across endpoints, systems, and network artifacts; experience with industry-standard tools (e.g., EnCase, FTK, Autopsy).
• Ability to collect, preserve, and analyze evidence while maintaining chain of custody and audit readiness.
• Strong investigative and analytical skills, including correlation of logs, endpoint, and network data to determine root cause and reconstruct timelines.
• Experience operating within incident response workflows and using EDR, SIEM, and detection platforms in active incident environments.
• Understanding of attacker TTPs, with exposure to malware analysis or memory forensics preferred.
• Analysis using EDR tooling such as Crowdstrike or Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE).
• Basic scripting/automation skills (e.g., Python, PowerShell) are a plus.
• Strong understanding of Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.
• Solid working knowledge of networking topology, technology and tools, such as firewalls, proxies, IDS/IPS, EDR.

Responsibilities

• Conduct forensic investigations on endpoint, network, and cloud environments
• Collect, preserve, and analyze digital evidence in accordance with established standards
• Support incident response activities, including triage, containment, eradication, and recovery
• Correlate forensic evidence with threat intelligence and detection signals
• Ability to analyze disk images, logs, and recovered data
• Reconstruct attack timelines and identify root cause and impact
• Document findings and produce clear, defensible reports for technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Collaborate across CSIRT, SOC, Legal, and Compliance teams as needed
• Contribute to post-incident reviews and continuous improvement of response capabilities

Skills

Incident Response

Digital Forensics

Log Correlation

Threat Analysis

Technical Writing

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

EnCase

FTK

Autopsy

X-Ways

ELK

SIFT

CrowdStrike

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Job description

IBM’s Cyber Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) is seeking a high-performing Incident Response Forensic Analyst to support the investigation and response to cybersecurity incidents across the Americas region.

The role sits at the intersection of incident response, digital forensics, and threat analysis, partnering with responders, threat detection teams, and leadership to investigate security events, preserve forensic evidence, and drive timely containment and remediation.