Senior IoT Botnet & DDoS Threat Researcher

Threat X, Inc.; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

A10 Networks is seeking a Principal Researcher to dive deep into IoT botnet and DDoS threats. You will reverse engineer malware, perform dynamic analysis, and translate findings into detection logic and network signatures that improve customer defense.

You will collaborate with AI/ML teams, work with product engineering, and lead external research output. Strong communication and senior-level expertise are essential.

Qualifications

• Strong background in binary reverse engineering across architectures and working with stripped binaries.
• Hands-on dynamic malware analysis in sandboxed or lab environments to observe runtime behavior.
• Proficiency in Python and Go for tooling and automation.
• Strong understanding of network protocols at implementation level and PCAP interpretation.
• Familiarity with IoT botnets (e.g., Mirai lineage) and analyzing binaries directly.
• Ability to communicate complex findings clearly to engineers, product teams, and customers.

Responsibilities

• Reverse engineer IoT botnet malware families to understand attack behavior on the wire and in binaries.
• Perform dynamic malware analysis in sandbox environments to validate findings.
• Design and contribute to novel detection and mitigation approaches from malware internals and traffic patterns.
• Collaborate with AI/ML teams to integrate automated analysis into workflows.
• Partner with product engineering to translate research into shipped detection capabilities.
• Lead external-facing research: threat reports, blogs, conference talks and set research direction.
• Engage with customers in post-incident analysis and strategic threat briefings.
• Work with senior researchers focusing on IoT botnets and large-scale DDoS systems.

Skills

Binary reverse engineering

Dynamic malware analysis

Python

Go

Network protocol analysis

Malware family tracking

Technical communication

Tools

Ghidra

IDA

Capstone

GoReSym

Scapy

tshark

Any.run

Joe Sandbox

Cuckoo

Job description

A10 Networks is seeking a Principal Researcher to dive deep into IoT botnet and DDoS threats. You will reverse engineer malware, perform dynamic analysis, and translate findings into detection logic and network signatures that improve customer defense.

You will collaborate with AI/ML teams, work with product engineering, and lead external research output. Strong communication and senior-level expertise are essential.