Who is Forcepoint?

Forcepoint simplifies security for global businesses and governments. Forcepoint’s all-in-one, truly cloud-native platform makes it easy to adopt Zero Trust and prevent the theft or loss of sensitive data and intellectual property no matter where people are working. 20+ years in business. 2.7k employees. 150 countries. 11k+ customers. 300+ patents. If our mission excites you, you’re in the right place; we want you to bring your own energy to help us create a safer world. All we’re missing is you!

Job Description

AI Security Researcher / Senior AI Security Researcher

About the Role

We are looking for an AI Security Researcher / Senior AI Security Researcher to join our Forcepoint X-Labs team. This role focuses on identifying, analyzing, and mitigating AI‑assisted and AI‑abusive threats across web and email attack surfaces, including malware distribution, phishing campaigns, social engineering, and emerging attacker use of Generative AI.

You will work at the intersection of threat intelligence, malware research, AI abuse detection, and security analytics, building practical research that directly feeds into detection logic, analytics, and production‑grade protections.

This is a hands‑on research role for someone passionate about understanding how modern attacks work, how attackers leverage automation and AI, and how to counter them at scale.

Key Responsibilities

Threat Research & Analysis

• Research and analyze web‑ and email‑based threats, including:
  • Malware delivery campaigns
  • Phishing, spear‑phishing, and business email compromise (BEC)
  • AI‑generated phishing content, lures, and social‑engineering techniques
• Track and investigate malware and phishing campaigns end‑to‑end, including infrastructure, delivery vectors, payload behavior, and evolution over time.
• Perform static and dynamic analysis of malicious content, URLs, files, scripts, and artifacts.
• Conduct network traffic analysis (PCAPs) to understand attack patterns, command‑and‑control behavior, and data exfiltration techniques.

AI‑Related Security Research

• Research attacker abuse of AI and GenAI, including:
  • AI‑assisted phishing and content scaling
  • Automated campaign generation
  • Evasion techniques targeting AI‑based defenses
• Analyze AI‑generated content patterns and contribute to AI‑aware detection strategies.
• Collaborate on the design and tuning of AI/ML‑driven threat detection analytics.

Analytics & Protection Development

• Design and develop detection analytics, heuristics, and signatures for web and email security.
• Translate research findings into actionable protections, such as:
  • Detection rules
  • Behavioral analytics
  • Indicators and classifiers
• Prototype research tools, scripts, or frameworks to support analysis, detection, or automation.
• Contribute to improving precision, recall, and resilience of detections against evasive threats.

Reverse Engineering & Deep Analysis

• Reverse engineer malicious code (scripts, binaries, documents, droppers).
• Analyze exploit techniques, obfuscation methods, and payload behavior.
• Document code behavior clearly for both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing

• Handle and analyze customer‑submitted samples and threat reports.
• Share knowledge internally through write‑ups, documentation, and technical reviews.
• Contribute externally via blogs, whitepapers, conference talks, or customer briefings.

Required Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
  or equivalent hands‑on industry experience.

Core Experience

• AI Security Researcher: 3+ years of experience in security research, threat intelligence, or malware analysis
• Senior AI Security Researcher: 6+ years of deep hands‑on experience in threat research and detection development

Technical Skills

• Strong understanding of the modern threat landscape, particularly web and email‑based attacks.
• Hands‑on experience with:
  • Malware and phishing analysis
  • Campaign tracking and clustering
  • Network protocols (TCP/IP, HTTP/S, DNS, SMTP, SSL/TLS)
• Proficiency in scripting or programming languages (e.g., Python, JavaScript, PowerShell) with a clear understanding of code behavior.
• Experience with debuggers, disassemblers, sandboxes, and analysis tools.
• Strong knowledge of operating system internals, especially Windows.
• Experience creating or tuning signatures, heuristics, or behavioral detections.

Desired / Bonus Skills

• Experience in AI/ML‑based security analytics or working closely with data science teams.
• Understanding of GenAI models, LLMs, and AI content generation, from a security or abuse perspective.
• Experience with:
  • Exploit kits, 0‑day research, or APT techniques
  • Email security systems or web filtering platforms
  • Large‑scale threat telemetry and analytics
• Familiarity with Complex Event Processing (CEP) or large‑scale detection pipelines.
• Experience presenting research at security conferences or industry forums.

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Ability to think like an attacker and translate findings into defenses.
• Comfortable working under pressure and managing multiple research priorities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a research‑driven team.

Why Join Us

• Work on cutting‑edge AI and threat research with real‑world impact.
• Influence production‑grade protections used by customers globally.
• Collaborate with highly skilled researchers, engineers, and data scientists.
• Clear growth path toward Principal Researcher, Lead Researcher, or AI Security Architect roles.

Don’t meet every single qualification? Studies show people are hesitant to apply if they don’t meet all requirements listed in a job posting. Forcepoint is focused on building an inclusive and diverse workplace – so if there is something slightly different about your previous experience, but it otherwise aligns and you’re excited about this role, we encourage you to apply. You could be a great candidate for this or other roles on our team.

The policy of Forcepoint is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, citizenship status, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status and to affirmatively seek to advance the principles of equal employment opportunity.

Forcepoint is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer and offers opportunities to all job seekers, including job seekers with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you may request a reasonable accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access the Company’s career webpage as a result of your disability. You may request reasonable accommodations by sending an email to recruiting@forcepoint.com.

Applicants must have the right to work in the location to which you have applied.