Security Researcher

Job Description

Overview

Do you enjoy the challenge of discovering and analyzing vulnerabilities in software and services to understand how they work and how an attacker might exploit them?

Are you excited by the idea of analyzing real-world exploits and researching new attack techniques? Are you passionate about driving meaningful security improvements into products and services to better protect billions of customers?

Do you want to be part of an inclusive & collaborative team that invests in the growth and success of one another? The Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) is responsible for detecting, protecting, and responding to threats that affect Microsoft’s products and services. We are looking for a motivated Security Researcher to join our team.

As part of the MSRC, our team (Vulnerability & Mitigations Team) is responsible for analyzing vulnerabilities found in Microsoft’s products and services to determine their root cause, severity, and security impact. This analysis plays a critical role in shaping the security updates that are deployed to customers.

The knowledge that we gain from analyzing vulnerabilities also informs the offensive and defensive security research performed by our team. As part of this research, our team works collaboratively with many teams across Microsoft to investigate, develop, and deploy security features that help discover and mitigate the biggest threats to customers.

Our team is passionate about a range of topics including vulnerability discovery & automation, safer programming languages, exploit and vulnerability mitigations, software sandboxes, penetration testing & red teaming, exploit development, operating systems security (Windows and Linux), virtualization security, cloud services security, and hardware vulnerabilities and mitigations.

This is a unique opportunity to have a positive impact on improving safety for customers around the world and to work on challenging real-world security problems as part of a supportive and collaborative team.

Responsibilities

As a member of the MSRC team, you will play a vital role in enhancing the security of Microsoft products and services. Your responsibilities will include:

• Analyzing critical security vulnerabilities reported by security researchers from around the world and provide guidance on remediation.

• Developing tools and techniques to discover and exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft products and services.

• Conducting penetration testing on Microsoft products, services, and cloud infrastructure to identify and report security issues.

• Innovation in security mitigations and hardening to make Microsoft products and services more resilient to attacks.

• Gaining insights from incoming bug trends to inform security research for the team, as well as influence the broader Microsoft security strategy.

Qualifications

We are looking for a security researcher who is passionate about security research in Windows/Linux platforms. You should have the following qualifications

• At least 5 years of experience in security research on Windows/Linux systems, with in-depth knowledge of one or both.

• Strong grasp of security vulnerabilities, how they can be exploited, and how they can be prevented.

• Proficiency in developing tools and automation to identify or verify security issues.
• Ability to communicate and advise on security design and implementation for complex security challenges.

• Familiarity with publicly available security test tools.

Additionally, we would prefer if you have:

• A public record of vulnerability research and discovery

• An understanding of security issues that may arise in managed and native server code components and their implications

• An ability to read and understand C and/or C++ code.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. 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 any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.