Incident Response Analyst

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Security Operations Center (SOC) Support Services is a US Government program responsible to monitor, detect, analyze, mitigate, and respond to cyber threats and adversarial activity on the DHS Enterprise.  The DHS SOC has primary responsibility for monitoring and responding to security events and incidents detected at the Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) and Policy Enforcement Point (PEP) and is responsible for directing and coordinating detection and response activities performed by each Component SOC. Direction and coordination are achieved through a new shared DHS incident tracking system and other means of coordination and communication. Leidos is seeking a Senior Incident Response Analyst to join our team on this highly visible DHS CISA SOC Program.

The Incident Responder will perform the following:

• Coordinate investigation and response efforts throughout the Incident Response lifecycle

• Correlate and and analyze events and data to determine scope of Cyber Incidents

• Acquire and analyze endpoint and network artifacts, volatile memory, malicious files/binaries and scripts

• Recognize attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures as potential indicators of compromise (IOCs) that can be used to improve monitoring, analysis and Incident Response.

• Develop, document, and maintain Incident Response process, procedures, workflows, and playbooks

• Tune and maintain security tools (EDR, IDS, SIEM, etc) to reduce false positives and improve SOC detection capabilities

• Document Investigation and Incident Response actions taken in Case Management Systems and prepare formal Incident Reports

• Create metrics and determine Key Performance Indicators to drive maturity of SOC operations

• Develop security content such as scripts, signatures, and alerts

The ideal candidate will possess:

• In-depth knowledge of each phase of the Incident Response life cycle

• Expertise of Operating Systems (Windows/Linux) operations and artifacts

• Understanding of Enterprise Network Architectures to include routing/switching, common protocols (DHCP, DNS, HTTP, etc), and devices (Firewalls, Proxies, Load Balancers, VPN, etc)

• Ability to recognize suspicious activity/events, common attacker TTPs, and perform logical analysis and research to determine root cause and scope of Incidents

• Be familiar with Cyber Kill Chain and have utilized the ATT&CK Framework

• Have scripting experience with Python, PowerShell, and/or Bash

• Ability to independently prioritize and complete multiple tasks with little to no supervision

• Flexible and adaptable self-starter with strong relationship-building skills

• Strong problem-solving abilities with an analytic and qualitative eye for reasoning

• Strong verbal and written communication skills

•Ability to communicate with all levels of audiences (subordinates, peers & leadership)

Basic Qualifications

All Department of Homeland Security SOC employees are required to favorably pass a 5-year (BI) Background Investigation. Experience in the areas of incident detection and response, malware analysis, or computer forensics.

Bachelors’ degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Cyber Security, or related field and 8-12 years of related experience.  Additional years of experience and cyber certifications may be considered in lieu of degree.

Should have at least one of the following certifications:

SANS GIAC: GCIH, GCIA, GCFA, GPEN GCFE, GREM

CISSP OSCP, OSCE, OSWP

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in cyber government, and/or federal law enforcement FISMA systems.

Original Posting Date:

While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range:

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.