Intern - Security Researcher (Summer 2025)

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

We are looking for a passionate and self-driven Security Researcher Intern to join our Cloud-Delivered Security Services team. As a Security Researcher you will play a critical role in developing and refining security content that powers our next-generation products. You’ll work on building and optimizing automation systems to gather and process real-time data, supporting the detection and prevention of malware and other digital threats. Collaborating with experienced security researchers, you’ll analyze emerging threats and contribute to robust security solutions.

Our Internship Program

Our program provides mentorship, hands-on experience, and the opportunity to work on impactful projects. You’ll connect with other interns, recent graduates, and seasoned professionals, thriving in an environment that values curiosity, collaboration, and problem-solving.

• 1:1 mentorship
• Fun and engaging events that inspire your intellectual curiosity
• Opportunities to expand your knowledge and work on challenging projects
• Connections to other interns, recent grads, and employees across the company as well as our leaders

Your Impact

• Learn about next-generation firewalls and their role in network security
• Build and improve automation systems for data collection and processing
• Apply AI/ML methods to analyze real network traffic to detect, analyze, and mitigate threats
• Research network security countermeasures for identifying and mitigating cyber attacks
• Collaborate with security researchers to analyze adversarial activities and implement proactive protections

Qualifications

Your Experience

• To be eligible, you must be a current student pursuing a doctorate (preferred) or a 2-year master’s degree in a related field with plans to return to school in the fall - Authorization to work in the United States is required - May or June 2025 start date
• Basic understanding of malware types (e.g., Spyware, Ransomware, Exploits) and popular vulnerabilities (e.g., command injection, buffer overflow)
• Familiarity with key network protocols (e.g., HTTP, SMTP, FTP)
• Proficiency in at least one programming language such as Python or Go
• Experience with ML/GenAI techniques and tools is a plus, such as
  • Techniques - Anomaly detection, deep learning, supervised/unsupervised learning, and natural language processing (NLP)
  • Tools - TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-Learn, Pandas, NumPy, Keras, NLTK, SpaCy, or Hugging Face Transformers
• Exposure to malware analysis and Capture-the-Flag (CTF) exercises is a plus
• Experience with traffic analysis tools (e.g., Wireshark, tcpdump) and reverse engineering tools is a plus

Additional Information

The Team

Our Cloud-Delivered Security Services team focuses on creating next-generation threat prevention and security solutions, delivering cutting-edge content to defend against cyber threats. Our areas of focus include malware analysis, IoT security, web and network security, data leakage protection, and AI-driven threat intelligence.

Compensation Disclosure

The compensation offered for this position will depend on your degree or progress toward degree, qualifications, experience, and work location. For candidates who receive an offer, the starting hourly rate is expected to be between $52/hr to $55/hr for the specific role.

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.