Computer Systems Security Research Intern

Job Description

We are looking for Researchers and Engineers to join a 6-month internship with the team based in Bristol that is researching the future of security technologies and techniques to make computing devices and data more secure for users and enterprises alike.

This internship is an exciting opportunity to participate in world-class research, to experience how industrial research is conducted to deliver customer value, and of course to do it all within the collaborative culture at HP. As a company, HP is dedicated to attracting diverse talent from all backgrounds and ethnicity.

During your internship, you will work in the research team exploring novel hardware and software architectures designed to improve the cyber-resiliency of the next generation of computer systems. Areas of interest include isolation, intrusion detection, and threat mitigation mechanisms rooted in robust hardware components. Practically, the work includes low-level system software (such as a hypervisor, OS kernel, and embedded RTOS components) and hardware such as Intel & ARM CPUs along with APUs, MCUs, and FPGAs.

Security of computing devices such as PCs, laptops, and printers, is an important topic for HP, and HP Labs has a long history of driving innovation in this area through the use of hardware, firmware & system software-based solutions. Examples of our work in this space include using monitoring techniques to protect low-level firmware and strengthening the security of the Linux kernel.

Join us in our new office in the heart of the bustling Bristol city center, within walking distance from the old town cafes and restaurants, in the middle of the city’s thriving startup and academic tech ecosystem. We are looking for curious and creative research-minded individuals who enjoy teamwork, have an excellent grounding in computer science and engineering, theory, and practice, and are relentlessly excited to have an impact and lead with innovation to solve real-world challenges.

Responsibilities:

• Develop an understanding of state of the art in the relevant areas of research
• Navigate uncertainties in the research while working with the team to identify novel technological paths
• Work with the research team to design a solution that addresses the limitations of the existing approaches, and also be able to progress the research
• Demonstrate the feasibility of the solution (e.g., paper, prototype, etc.)

Mandatory skills and experience required:

• Studying toward a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Doctoral university degree in the relevant topics
• Knowledge and practical experience in programming (C, C++, Rust, Go)
• Theory and practical experience with computer system architecture
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Keen to learn and able to progress on live projects

Advantageous skills and experience:

• Embedded systems, instrumentation, measurement, and running experiments
• Signal processing, data analytics
• Low-level software and firmware development (OS kernel, hypervisor, compiler)
• Trusted computing, code security, and forensics
• Digital integrated circuit design (SoC, FPGA, VHDL, Verilog, synthesis, emulation)
• Applied and theoretical cryptography