Principal Threat Researcher (Data Platform)

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks® everything starts and ends with our mission:

Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.
Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we’re looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are.

Who We Are

We take our mission of protecting the digital way of life seriously. We are relentless in protecting our customers and we believe that the unique ideas of every member of our team contributes to our collective success. Our values were crowdsourced by employees and are brought to life through each of us everyday - from disruptive innovation and collaboration, to execution. From showing up for each other with integrity to creating an environment where we all feel included.

As a member of our team, you will be shaping the future of cybersecurity. We work fast, value ongoing learning, and we respect each employee as a unique individual. Knowing we all have different needs, our development and personal wellbeing programs are designed to give you choice in how you are supported. This includes our FLEXBenefits wellbeing spending account with over 1,000 eligible items selected by employees, our mental and financial health resources, and our personalized learning opportunities - just to name a few!

At Palo Alto Networks, we believe in the power of collaboration and value in-person interactions. This is why our employees generally work full time from our office with flexibility offered where needed. This setup fosters casual conversations, problem-solving, and trusted relationships. Our goal is to create an environment where we all win with precision.

Your Career

We are seeking a threat researcher to join our data platform team. The selected candidate will join a team of industry-leading cloud threat researchers detecting novel and emerging threat actors and groups targeting cloud environments. The candidate must have experience in threat hunting, intelligence gathering, or cloud application or platform penetration testing skills. Fundamentally, they must have a passion for cloud architecture, cloud posture management, cloud runtime monitoring, and cloud detection engineering.

Your Impact

As a Data Platform Threat Researcher, your deep understanding of the threat landscape, combined with your proven expertise in cybersecurity research, will be critical in identifying, investigating, and neutralizing APTs and cybercrime activities. You will leverage your extensive experience in forensic analysis and incident response, utilizing both dynamic and static tools, to meticulously uncover attack vectors, propagation methods, and data exfiltration techniques.

You will play a pivotal role in evolving our threat intelligence by

• Developing novel threat hunting methodologies and contributing to our knowledge base through impactful technical blog posts and analysis reports.
• Using your insights into APT operations and familiarity with organizational cybersecurity measures to directly inform our protective strategies and remediation efforts.
• Simplify and clarify complex technical information to enable effective collaboration and enhance our overall security posture.
• Significantly contribute to strengthening our data platform defenses and ensuring the integrity and security of our critical assets

Your Experience 

• Knowledge and understanding of the threat landscape, including attack tools, tactics, and techniques, as well as networking and security fundamentals
• Experience investigating targeted, sophisticated, or hidden threats in both endpoints and networks
• 8+ years of relevant experience with a proven track record in cybersecurity research, specializing in either APTs or cybercrime, but with the ability to address the broader threat landscape
• Background in forensic analysis and incident response tools (both Dynamic and Static, such as IDA Pro, Ollydbg, and Wireshark) to identify threats and assess the extent and scope of compromises
• Understanding of APT operations, including attack vectors, propagation, data exfiltration, lateral movement, persistence mechanisms, and more
• Familiarity with organizational cybersecurity measures, including protective tools and remediation techniques
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English
• Strong attention to detail
• Knowledge of advanced threat hunting methodologies and the ability to develop novel techniques
• Experience in an Incident Response environment is a plus
• Proficiency in Python and SQL 
• Familiarity with leveraging AI related tools in Threat research
• Ability to simplify and clarify complex ideas
• Experience in writing technical threat related blog posts and analysis reports

The Team

Our engineering team is at the core of our products – connected directly to the mission of preventing cyberattacks. We are constantly innovating – challenging the way we, and the industry, think about cybersecurity. Our engineers don’t shy away from building products to solve problems no one has pursued before. We define the industry, instead of waiting for directions. We need individuals who feel comfortable in ambiguity, excited by the prospect of a challenge, and empowered by the unknown risks facing our everyday lives that are only enabled by a secure digital environment.

Compensation Disclosure

The compensation offered for this position will depend on qualifications, experience, and work location. For candidates who receive an offer at the posted level, the starting base salary (for non-sales roles) or base salary + commission target (for sales/commissioned roles) is expected to be between $0 - $215,000/YR. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

#LI-TD4

Our Commitment

We’re problem solvers that take risks and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at  [email protected].

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.