Research Scientist – Digital Security

Date: 26-Jul-2021

Location: Abu Dhabi, AE

Company: Technology Innovation Institute

Technology Innovation Institute (TII) is a publicly funded research institute, based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is home to a diverse community of leading scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and researchers from across the globe, transforming problems and roadblocks into pioneering research and technology prototypes that help move society ahead.

Digital Security Research Center

At the Digital Security Research Centre, we aim to make the world’s software more secure by tackling path explosion, issues in software supply-chain, making automatic generic bug-hunting frameworks more effective for complex software, and repairing software while maintaining functionality and performance at scale. Our work focuses on:

Automated binary analysis
Automated vulnerability evaluation
Automated self-healing
Automated strategic decision-making

Position: Research Scientist

The successful candidate will have opportunities to experiment with emerging technologies and integrate them into autonomous systems, as well as understand leading security tools, design algorithms, build models, and verify them through prototypes.

Job Description

Researching, designing, and developing algorithms, as well as building models, tools, and testing ideas to improve software assurance and facilitate reliable reasoning in grappling with uncertainty
Developing new concepts for engineers to advance state-of-the-art security tools that are capable of discovering and repairing vulnerabilities
Designing novel approaches, prototyping new technology, and evaluating technical feasibility
Exploring new techniques for automating embedded software system analysis and reverse engineering
Transferring knowledge by clearly articulating ideas in papers and presentations to team members, management, and decision makers
Supporting program analysis and working on state-of-the-art tools in the field of computer security
Develop solutions for real-world, large-scale problems

Skills required for the job

3+ years of professional experience in computer security
Ability to conduct reverse engineering on binaries and firmware
Experience developing software and/or performing computer science research
Demonstrable experience with SAT/SMT solvers, symbolic execution, and data-flow analysis for compiled binaries
Understanding of binary intermediate representations, binary translation, and compiler construction
Technical knowledge of computer architecture, compiler designs, and internal operating systems
Proficiency in one or more programming languages (e.g., C/C++, Python 3, Go, Rust, and Assembly)
Familiarity with Unix/Linux operating systems and embedded systems development toolchains
Hands-on experience in empirically evaluating and translating evidence from computer security white papers to practice, as well as building prototypes
Ability to solve complex problems with discretion, critical thinking, and diagnostic skills and/or expertise
Experience in applying machine learning and/or deep learning techniques
Capable of understanding code in a variety of programming languages and developing software to demonstrate new analysis capabilities
Strong track record of publications in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals and presentations at top-tier conferences
Performance analysis and optimization for CPUs and GPUs
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Qualifications

Master’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or a related STEM discipline

At TII, we help society to overcome its biggest hurdles through a rigorous approach to scientific discovery and inquiry, using state-of-the-art facilities and collaboration with leading international institutions. Our rigorous discovery and inquiry-based approach helps to forge new and disruptive breakthroughs in advanced materials, autonomous robotics, cryptography, digital security, directed energy, quantum computing and secure systems.