Principal Malware Reverse Engineer - Threat Intelligence

About Zscaler

Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) accelerates digital transformation so that customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange is the company’s cloud-native platform that protects thousands of customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location. 

With more than 10 years of experience developing, operating, and scaling the cloud, Zscaler serves thousands of enterprise customers around the world, including 450 of the Forbes Global 2000 organizations. In addition to protecting customers from damaging threats, such as ransomware and data exfiltration, it helps them slash costs, reduce complexity, and improve the user experience by eliminating stacks of latency-creating gateway appliances. 

Zscaler was founded in 2007 with a mission to make the cloud a safe place to do business and a more enjoyable experience for enterprise users. Zscaler’s purpose-built security platform puts a company’s defenses and controls where the connections occur—the internet—so that every connection is fast and secure, no matter how or where users connect or where their applications and workloads reside.

Job Description

Zscaler is looking for a highly technical security researcher with significant experience in malware reverse engineering and threat intelligence. This position will be responsible for analyzing complex malware threats at scale through malware code reverse engineering to reveal in-depth behavior. The results will be used to develop innovative tools to automate further analysis, produce technical reports, and publish research blogs.

Responsibilities

• Identify, analyze, and track emerging threats by reverse engineering advanced malware threats and building automated systems to extract threat intelligence for detection and prevention.
• Articulate findings through technical reports, blogs, media interviews and speaking engagements with strong writing/speaking skills and be comfortable presenting findings to both internal and external audiences.
• Leverage Zscaler’s existing data mining tools as well as our cloud based infrastructure to protect our customers.
• Exercise strong technical knowledge of malware-based threats, and live to identify the next attack vector, no matter how deep it’s hidden.

Qualifications

• Required 15+ years in static malware code reverse engineering.
• Expert knowledge of tracking nation-state and/or cybercriminal threat actors.
• Vast experience with debuggers (OllyDbg, WinDbg, or x64dbg) and disassemblers/decompilers (IDA Pro or Ghidra).
• Proficient in unpacking malware, string and code obfuscation, encryption, and compression algorithms.
• Experience building automated tools to extract malware configuration information.
• Significant understanding of network protocols and web application security.
• Ability to develop precise IDS/IPS (e.g., Snort and Suricata) signatures and Yara rules.
• Strong scripting skills in languages such as Ruby, Python, and Perl.
• Professional English writing skills and experience in drafting blogs, technical reports, etc.
• Proven track record of innovative ideas and an ability to implement them.

Preferred

• Publication of past research and speaking engagements.
• Experience with reverse engineering threats related to Linux, MacOS, and mobile devices.
• Proficient in common software vulnerabilities and binary exploitation.

Education

• Bachelor’s or graduate degree from a four-year college or university (preferably in computer science, engineering, or a related discipline), or equivalent security industry work experience.

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Zscaler’s salary ranges are benchmarked and are determined by role and level. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations and could be higher or lower based on a multitude of factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

The base salary range listed for this full-time position excludes commission/ bonus/ equity (if applicable) + benefits.

Base Pay Range$175,000—$250,000 USD

By applying for this role, you adhere to applicable laws, regulations, and Zscaler policies, including those related to security and privacy standards and guidelines.

Zscaler is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all of our employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy or related medical conditions), age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristics protected by federal, state, or local laws.

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Pay Transparency

Zscaler complies with all applicable federal, state, and local pay transparency rules. For additional information about the federal requirements, click here.

Zscaler is committed to providing reasonable support (called accommodations or adjustments) in our recruiting processes for candidates who are differently abled, have long term conditions, mental health conditions or sincerely held religious beliefs, or who are neurodivergent or require pregnancy-related support.