Staff Security Researcher (Advanced Threat Prevention)

Company Description

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.

Job Description

Your Career

You will be part of the team that builds and delivers the threat detection capabilities powering Palo Alto Networks’ Advanced Threat Prevention (ATP). The ATP Detection team is responsible for decoding network protocols, identifying applications, and detecting threats across our enterprise customers’ networks.

As a member of the team, you’ll work on a wide range of projects that give customers deep visibility into their network traffic and the ability to prevent exploits, advanced persistent threats (APTs), and other sophisticated attacks. This is a unique opportunity to strengthen your expertise in threat prevention while making a direct impact on securing organizations worldwide.

Your Impact

• Research the root causes of publicly disclosed vulnerabilities and develop effective detection methods, including IPS signatures and ML-based detection.

• Analyze and respond to Zero-Day vulnerabilities, delivering IPS protections to customers within 24 hours.

• Reverse engineer software to uncover previously unknown vulnerabilities.

• Design and implement detection methodologies for emerging attack vectors.

• Build innovative projects on Linux and Windows systems to advance next-generation security technologies.

Qualifications

Your Experience 

• Team player with good communication skills and the ability to work with cross-functional groups.

• Basic understanding of exploit techniques, such as buffer overflows, use-after-free, format string, XSS, SQL injection, CSRF, MITM, and DoS.

• Familiarity with core network protocols such as HTTP, UDP, FTP, SMTP, DNS, and SMB.

• Exposure to network traffic analysis tools like tcpdump or Wireshark.

• Experience with AI/ML is a plus, especially in security contexts.

• Familiar with Windows/Linux development environment  

• Programming experience with scripting languages (e.g., Bash, Python, Perl); familiarity with penetration testing tools (Metasploit, Burp Suite, Nmap) or debugging tools (WinDbg, OllyDbg, GDB) is a plus.

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field, or equivalent professional/military experience.

• Experience with Capture the Flag (CTF) is a plus.

• Contributions to security blogs or talks at conferences (e.g., Black Hat, DEF CON) are highly valued but not required.

Additional Information

The Team

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.

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 $117000 - $182500/YR. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

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  accommodations@paloaltonetworks.com.

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.