Intrusion Analyst

Talon Defense, Inc.; Linthicum, Northern (MD, KY); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

401(k) with company match

Paid time off and federal holidays

Life insurance

Professional development reimbursement

Certification reimbursement

Job summary

Talon Defense, Inc. is seeking an Intrusion Analyst to join our Linthicum, MD team. You'll hunt adversary activity, analyze intrusions as they unfold, and translate data into actionable findings to protect national security systems.

Work with forensic examiners and malware reverse engineers to identify IOCs, develop analytics, and prepare Malware Analysis Reports. This onsite, full-time role requires a security clearance eligibility and strong communication and leadership skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in digital forensics, computer science, cybersecurity, information technology, criminal justice or a related field.
• 2-5 years of experience in digital forensics/intrusion analysis.
• One of the following certifications: GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH), EC-Council Certified Incident Handler (ECIH), GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst (GCFA), DC3 Cyber Training Academy Digital Forensic Examiner (DFE).
• Excellent communication and leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Conducts forensic examinations involving network intrusions, malicious activity, compromised systems, advanced persistent threat activity, and cyber incidents.
• Develops scripts and analytical utilities for artifact triage, artifact extraction, timeline development, or repetitive examination tasks
• Identifies IoCs, persistence mechanisms, lateral-movement activity, command-and-control activity, privilege escalation, credential abuse, and other adversary behaviors
• Performs evidence identification, forensic image and extraction review, hashing, timestamp analysis, artifact interpretation, anti-forensic detection, and user-activity reconstruction
• Prepares complete, technically accurate and formatted Malware Analysis Reports
• May support in technical peer review activities, technical input to training and quality assurance activities

Skills

Clear communication

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in digital forensics, computer science, cybersecurity, information technology, criminal justice or a related field

Job description

Onsite Full-time $100,000 - $185,000 per year Posted October 2, 2026

Overview

Talon Defense is looking for an Intrusion Analyst to join our team in Linthicum, MD, supporting mission-critical customer operations. In this role, you'll be on the front line of network defense: hunting for adversary activity, analyzing intrusions as they unfold, and piecing together how attackers got in, what they touched, and how to stop them. Working alongside forensic examiners, malware reverse engineers, and fellow analysts, you'll turn raw network and host data into clear, actionable findings that help protect national security systems against advanced, persistent threats. If you have an investigator's instinct, like connecting the dots across complex data, and want your work to make a real difference, we'd like to hear from you!

Key Responsibilities

• Conducts forensic examinations involving network intrusions, malicious activity, compromised systems, advanced persistent threat activity, and cyber incidents.
• Develops scripts and analytical utilities for artifact triage, artifact extraction, timeline development, or repetitive examination tasks
• Identifies IoCs, persistence mechanisms, lateral-movement activity, command-and-control activity, privilege escalation, credential abuse, and other adversary behaviors
• Performs evidence identification, forensic image and extraction review, hashing, timestamp analysis, artifact interpretation, anti-forensic detection, and user-activity reconstruction
• Prepares complete, technically accurate and formatted Malware Analysis Reports
• May support in technical peer review activities, technical input to training and quality assurance activities

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in digital forensics, computer science, cybersecurity, information technology, criminal justice or a related field
• 2-5 years of experience in digital forensics/intrusion analysis
• One of the following certifications: GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH), EC-Council Certified Incident Handler (ECIH), GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst (GCFA), DC3 Cyber Training Academy Digital Forensic Examiner (DFE)
• Excellent communication and leadership skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Digital Forensics, Computer Science or related field
• 8+ years of experience in digital forensics/intrusion analysis

Compensation

$100,000 - $185,000 per year

Medical, dental, and vision coverage; 401(k) with company match; paid time off and federal holidays; life insurance; professional development and certification reimbursement.

Annual performance bonus; employee referral bonuses.

Salary offered will depend on numerous qualifying factors such as clearance, degree and the years and depth of applicable experience.

Security Clearance

Candidates must be U.S. citizens able to obtain and maintain a security clearance at the Top Secret level with SCI eligibility.

Talon Defense, Inc. provides equal opportunities to qualified employees and prospective employees without regard to age, race, color, religion, pregnancy, sex, national origin, veteran status, uniformed status, physical or mental disability, or other protected characteristics.