Network Based Systems Analyst IV

Farfield will assist the Federal staff within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Agency (CISA) Hunt and Incident Response Team (HIRT), and National Cybersecurity and Assessment and Technical Services (NCATS) branches, with a broad set of support functions. The Hunt and Incident Response Team is DHSs front line when responding to cyber incidents and proactively hunting for malicious cyber activity. HIRT leverages world-class expertise to lead response, containment, remediation, and asset recovery efforts with its constituents and partners. HIRT provides two primary functions to its customer. First, HIRT serves as DHSs primary operations arm in the execution of the asset response mission delegated to DHS. When any civilian Government agency or critical asset owner operator experiences a cyber-attack, HIRT can provide remote and onsite advanced technical assistance. Second, HIRT also can be called upon to proactively identify malicious activity, otherwise known as a hunt, specifically focusing on identifying threats from sophisticated threat actors that are often undetected, and in situations beyond the capacity and capability of traditional cyber security tools and techniques. Requires a Top Secret/SCI clearance and U.S. Citizenship The CDNA uses information collected from a variety of sources to monitor network activity and analyze it for evidence of suspicious behavior. Monitoring and analysis are performed to identify and report events that occur, or might occur, within the network, in order to protect information, information systems, and networks from threats. Characterize and analyze network traffic to identify anomalous activity and potential threats to network resources. Coordinate with enterprise-wide cyber defense staff to validate network alerts. Document and escalate incidents (including event's history, status, and potential impact for further action) that may cause ongoing and immediate impact to the environment. Perform cyber defense trend analysis and reporting. Perform event correlation using information gathered from a variety of sources within the enterprise to gain situational awareness and determine the effectiveness of an observed attack. Provide daily summary reports of network events and activity relevant to cyber defense practices. Receive and analyze network alerts from various sources within the enterprise and determine possible causes of alerts. Provide timely detection, identification, and alerting of possible attacks/intrusions, anomalous activities, and misuse activities and distinguish these incidents and events from benign activities. Use cyber defense tools for continual monitoring and analysis of system activity to identify malicious activity. Analyze identified malicious activity to determine weaknesses exploited, exploitation methods, effects on system and information. Identify and analyze anomalies in network traffic using metadata. Validate intrusion detection system (IDS) alerts against network traffic using packet analysis tools. Identify applications and operating systems of a network device based on network traffic. Reconstruct a malicious attack or activity based off network traffic. Identify network mapping and operating system (OS) fingerprinting activities. Assist in the construction of signatures which can be implemented on cyber defense network tools in response to new or observed threats within the network environment or enclave. Basic Qualifications: U.S. Citizenship Active TS/SCI clearance Ability to obtain Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Entry on Duty (EOD) Suitability 8 years of direct relevant experience in cyber defense analysis using leading edge technologies and industry standard cyber defense tools. BS Computer Science, Cyber Security, Computer Engineering, or related degree; or HS Diploma & 10 years of network investigations experience Experience successfully developing and deploying signatures. Experience detecting host and network-based intrusions via intrusion detection technologies. (e.g., Snort) Experience implementing incident handling methodologies. Experience implementing protocol analyzers. Experience collecting data from a variety of cyber defense resources. Experience reading and interpreting signatures (e.g., snort) Experience performing packet-level analysis. Experience conducting trend analysis. Desired Qualifications: Python programming experience Strong math and science background Experience with Carnegie Mellon SiLK tool suite One or more of the following professional certifications: GNFA, GCIH, GCIA, GSEC, CASP, CySA, PaLMS, FedVTE GSEC (SANS401), Arcsight (or other SEIM solution), Network, Security Powered by JazzHR