Listing Description

Senior Hardware Security Research Engineer

at Riverside Research

Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio

Riverside Research is an independent National Security Nonprofit dedicated to research and development in the national interest. We provide high-end technical services, research and development, and prototype solutions to some of the country’s most challenging technical problems.

JOB NUMBER: 1216

Embedded hardware is found throughout commercial and defense electronic systems, delivering exceptional capabilities for field applications. The Riverside Research Engineering and Support Solutions (ESS) Division conducts Research and Development (R&D) to understand the impact of evolved cyber physical attacks to embedded hardware security.

The Senior Hardware Security Research Engineer will develop novel embedded hardware attack techniques and implement those found in open-source publications and other publicly available resources. This position will be a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in the understanding of advanced attacks against state-of-the-art integrated circuits and the countermeasures and protective controls to prevent such attacks. Research is conducted in a microelectronics laboratory.  You will work with microelectronics security experts employing a range of microelectronics test equipment, custom software, and computing resources to provide the best support to our customers. This position is located on WPAFB, OH.

All Riverside Research opportunities require U.S. Citizenship.

Job Responsibilities:

• Perform as a technical area SME.  Study current and emerging threats to embedded hardware including but not limited to microcontrollers, FPGAs, and ASICs


• Prototype new attack techniques by building custom hardware and software test setups


• Understand device architectures and features by reviewing system-level documentation and source code (VHDL, Verilog, C, Assembly)


• Design and perform experiments to assess attack effectiveness against microelectronic devices


• Document results in technical reports, present findings to technology stakeholders


• Attend technical conferences; develop and present papers with Government research leads


• Support the program Senior Principal Investigator and Program Manager in the development and documentation of technical requirements for approved research areas


• Support the program customer in the development of papers and presentations advancing the knowledge of the research field and technical area


• Contribute to proposals for new research in the same and/or related technology areas

Required Qualifications:

• U.S. Citizen with an active Top Secret clearance


• Bachelor's Degree (Electrical or Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or Applied Mathematics)

Minimum:

• Bachelor’s degree as listed above (or closely related academic field) and 5 years direct experience in electromagnetic / side-channel analysis and embedded hardware technology countermeasures,


• or a master’s degree as listed above (or closely related academic field) and 3 years direct experience in electromagnetic / side-channel analysis and embedded hardware technology protection,


• or a PhD with demonstrated research work in an applicable technical area that includes side-channel analysis


• Strong understanding of side-channel attack theory and implementation


• Demonstratable understanding of countermeasure implementation in embedded technologies including microcontrollers, FPGAs, ASICs, and related technologies


• Familiarity with NIST-recommended cryptographic algorithms


• Experience testing microelectronic devices


• Experience planning research and executing research plans successfully


• Excellent written and verbal communication skills


• Experience using Python or Matlab

Desired Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree as listed above (or closely related academic field) and 8+ years direct experience in electromagnetic / side-channel analysis and embedded hardware technology countermeasures,


• or a master’s degree as listed above (or closely related academic field) and 6+ years direct experience in electromagnetic / side-channel analysis and embedded hardware technology protection


• or a PhD with 3 or more years of research work in an applicable technical area that includes side-channel analysis


• MS or PhD in Electrical, Computer Engineering or a related field Experience with optical modeling software


• Experience leading R&D projects


• Experience developing embedded hardware (VHDL, Verilog) and software (C, Assembly)


• Prior experience with hardware and/or software reverse engineering


• Understanding of semiconductor device physics, design, and fabrication


• Experience presenting technical material to a  technical audience


• Experience developing research proposals


• Willing to travel up to 20%