Threat Researcher

At Cloudflare, we have our eyes set on an ambitious goal: to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers approximately 25 million Internet properties, for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. 

We realize people do not fit into neat boxes. We are looking for curious and empathetic individuals who are committed to developing themselves and learning new skills, and we are ready to help you do that. We cannot complete our mission without building a diverse and inclusive team. We hire the best people based on an evaluation of their potential and support them throughout their time at Cloudflare. Come join us! 

About the Department

Emerging Technologies & Incubation (ETI) is where new and bold products are built and released within Cloudflare.  Rather than being constrained by the structures which make Cloudflare a massively successful business, we are able to leverage them to deliver entirely new tools and products to our customers.  Cloudflare’s edge and network make it possible to solve problems at massive scale and efficiency, which would be impossible for almost any other organization.

About the Role

Cloudflare is a system spanning the globe, on a mission to make the internet better, safer, and more powerful everyday.  To help fulfill this mission, we are seeking a talented Threat Researcher to join us in growing our Threat Intelligence Organization, where you will be instrumental in building a proactive and threat intelligence-driven approach to protecting Cloudflare and its customers from sophisticated and ever-evolving global threat actors.  This position requires an innovative, OPSEC-savvy, self-starting, and detail-oriented problem solver with a passion for identifying, tracking, and defeating sophisticated cyber threats.

As a Threat Researcher, your analytical thinking and quick action will be the key to our success.  You will serve an integral role in the discovery and analysis of cyber threat adversaries, their Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs), along with applying knowledge of transnational issues and geopolitical developments to understand adversary actions and anticipate their next moves.  In this position, you will develop and maintain sources of unique threat intelligence to enable analysis, as well as examine and mitigate threats in realtime, leveraging emerging technologies to build detections that protect millions of people from attack.  You will work in close collaboration with team members to develop new and innovative ways to present and interact with our unique insights, ranging from completion of finished intelligence products to development of advanced tactical and strategic countermeasures.  

Strong candidates will have excellent OSINT research skills, firsthand experience in Threat Intelligence (in particular, familiarity with advanced persistent threats), a strong technical foundation, practical knowledge of intelligence report writing, and ability to work well in a group of distributed remote team members.

Examples of desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• Advanced communication (written and verbal) and presentation skills, both internally to CXO level and externally to customers
• Strong knowledge in technical reporting and editing
• Experience in one of the following: Email, Packet, and/or Metadata analysis
• Experience in network and/or host-based intrusion analysis
• Understanding of the latest security trends as they relate to cyber threat adversary detection, response, and mitigation
• Experience using a comprehensive data analysis platform and rule configuration, with ability to recognize patterns and transform data into useful information
• Understanding of the cyber threat landscape, cyber intelligence, the intelligence lifecycle, and working knowledge of threat actors and their techniques
• Experience tracking and analyzing cyber campaigns utilizing technical Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)
• Ability to synthesize technical information and document it, in both a technical and non-technical manner, through written, graphical and verbal representation
• One of the following:
  • BS in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Security, Computer Security, Information Systems or related discipline, OR
  • Military training and experience in cyber intelligence, general intelligence studies, security studies, or related discipline
• At least 2 years experience in one or more of the following:
  • Intrusion analysis
  • Cyber threat hunting
  • Cyber threat intelligence
  • Incident response
  • Penetration testing
  • Network defense
  • Endpoint forensics
  • Malware analysis
• Desire to learn and improve
• Willing and eager to share knowledge, and mentor

Bonus Points

• Extensive knowledge of an advanced persistent threat (APT) group(s)
• Working knowledge of email authentication protocols, and experience in email header analysis
• Experience analyzing, tracking and defending against phishing attacks
• Familiarity with regular expressions and their practical application in tracking malicious activity
• Working knowledge of SQL and devising SQL queries
• Experience with detection development using YARA
• Experience operationalizing machine learning algorithms
• Prior intelligence community background

What Makes Cloudflare Special?

We’re not just a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company. We’re a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company with a soul. Fundamental to our mission to help build a better Internet is protecting the free and open Internet.

Project Galileo: We equip politically and artistically important organizations and journalists with powerful tools to defend themselves against attacks that would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflare’s enterprise customers--at no cost.

Athenian Project: We created Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration.

Path Forward Partnership: Since 2016, we have partnered with Path Forward, a nonprofit organization, to create 16-week positions for mid-career professionals who want to get back to the workplace after taking time off to care for a child, parent, or loved one.

1.1.1.1: We released 1.1.1.1 to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy-centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer-focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Here’s the deal - we don’t store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by our privacy commitment and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers.

Sound like something you’d like to be a part of? We’d love to hear from you!

This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license.

Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness.  All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person's, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer.

Cloudflare provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities.  Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, changing the application process, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.  If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job, please contact us via e-mail at hr@cloudflare.com or via mail at 101 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107.