Group 51 – Summer Research Program Intern (Cyber ​​Systems and Operations) at MIT Lincoln Laboratory – Lexington, MA, USA

Critical infrastructure, Internet of Things devices, Department of Defense (DoD) systems, communications systems, and traditional IT infrastructure all have one thing in common: their logical processing affects and is affected by the physical world. The Cyber-Physical Systems Group conducts research to understand the cybersecurity implications of these cyber-physical phenomena and develops first-of-its-kind prototypes for the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and federal agencies.

The Cyber ​​Physical Systems Group addresses key issues at the convergence of cybersecurity and the physical world in an interdisciplinary research and development environment. We focus on cyber-physical sensing, cyber-physical effects, and red-teaming using techniques such as building or applying advanced and novel sensors, digital processing, side-channel analytics, AI/ML, reverse engineering, system exploitation, and RF communications.

Job description:

In this role, you will work with a multidisciplinary team to support existing efforts in the cyber-physical domain. Prospective candidates may:

• Conduct research and development in the field of radio frequency (RF) signal analysis
• Reverse engineering hardware and/or software systems and developing proof-of-concept capabilities by exploiting their vulnerabilities
• Prototype new capabilities using various hardware transmitters such as Software Defined Radios (SDRs)
• Perform vulnerability assessments on wireless, mobile, or advanced computing systems
• Apply AI/ML to spectrum analysis and hardware analysis problems

The intern will work closely with a mentor from the Cyber ​​Physical Systems Group technical staff. Successful candidates will be interested in the interdisciplinary nature of the cyber-physical problem space and willing to develop new expertise in the pursuit of solving unconventional problems.

Requirements for degree and experience:

• The successful candidate will be a candidate with a degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, mathematics, physics, or another related field with an interest in cybersecurity.

Skills and abilities:

Candidate must have excellent follow-up and problem-solving skills. In addition, demonstrated skills in a subset of the following areas are highly desirable:

• High-level scripting languages, such as Python
• Low-level languages, such as C or assembly
• Design of computer architecture, instruction set architectures, and internal workings of operating systems
• Software Defined Radios
• RF Spectrum Analysis and Digital Signal Processing
• Machine learning and artificial intelligence
• Digital logic and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)
• Binary reverse engineering and exploitation, including tools such as IDA or Ghidra

Selected candidates will be subject to a pre-appointment background check and must be able to obtain and maintain a DoD secret security clearance.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is an equal opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability status, or genetic information; U.S. citizenship is required.

Application ID: 41295