Forensic Analyst

Summary

Arete is a cybersecurity company with a dedicated incident response team serving the fast-growing cybersecurity industry. The Forensic Analyst performs digital forensic investigations across operating systems and network appliances, documents attack timelines and findings, identifies indicators of compromise, and collaborates with incident response, threat intelligence, SOC, and other cross-functional teams. The role also prepares investigative reports and communicates technical findings to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Performs digital forensic analysis on Windows, Apple Mac, and Linux based operating systems, in addition to the analysis of networking appliances including but not to, VPN and firewall appliances
• Documents forensic findings in accordance with the standards set forth within the Arete Forensic Tracker and develop a master timeline and visual attack map of the events
• Identifies additional sources (systems, logs, etc.) to collect based on the analysis and identifies gaps based on the lifecycle of attack
• Works with the Security Operations Center (SOC) to leverage data from monitoring and alerts provided by installed applications and deployed EDR solutions to identify Indicators of Compromise (IOCs), Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) for variants related to case
• Delivers Forensics findings and updates to the team in a clear, concise manner through a narrative story outlining the timeline of events. Modifies delivery in-line with the call’s audience and technical capabilities
• Tracks findings and capture data points related to investigations to enhance and inform our threat intelligence
• Raises technical constraints and issues within the Forensics team to identify detail of the incident and escalate to Forensic leadership
• Maintains updated case analyst notes, the Forensic tracker, timeline and attack map for collaboration within the team in our centralized case location
• Drafts detailed updates regarding investigative findings and conclusions drawn from analysis regarding the timing and mechanism of the initial intrusion, adversary actions, timeline of activity/lateral movement, and indicators of data access and/or exfiltration
• Identifies, documents, and shares information such as critical IOCs or adversary TTP’s as they uncovered with the Incident Response, Threat Intel, and Security Operations teams
• Communicates identified IOCs to the Tiger Team in furtherance of the investigation, path to restoration/response, and for bolstering of Client’s security posture
• Employs the usage of incident-mapping frameworks such as MITRE’s ATT&CK and Lockheed Martin’s Cyber Kill Chain to help contextualize identified adversary actions/IOCs
• Produces written incident, investigative updates and reports at the explicit direction of counsel partners
• Communicates within the DFIR team and provide routine status updates within our case management platform
• Works with cross-functional teams and collaborate to leverage threat intel TTPS/IOC's, information from our SOC/Threat Hunting team, and updates from our Negotiations teams to leverage the intelligence as part of the incident
• Drafts reports and appendices based on the findings using the standard report templates
• Accurately track and record time for forensic analysis
• May perform other duties as assigned by management

Skills

• Deep understanding of Forensic artifacts, including (but not limited to) the analysis of operating system artifacts and the recovery of deleted items from multiple operating systems including Windows, Linux, Mac and RAM/memory forensics
• Experience analyzing network and operating system log files including Windows Event logs, Unified Audit Logs, Firewall logs, VPN logs, etc
• Working knowledge of:
• Windows disk and memory forensics
• Network Security Monitoring (NSM), network traffic analysis, and log analysis
• Unix or Linux disk and memory forensic
• Experience and understanding of enterprise security controls
• Experienced with EnCase, Axiom, FTK, X-Ways, SIFT, Splunk, Redline, Volatility, WireShark, TCP Dump, and other open-source forensic tools
• Associate's degree and 4+ years of incident response or digital forensics experience or Bachelor's Degree in Information Security, Computer Science, Digital Forensics, Cyber Security or related field
• Possess One or more of the following Certifications
• Security +, Network+, SANS GCED, GCIH, GCFE, GCFA, CEH, CHFI
• No physical exertion required
• Travel within or outside of the state
• Light work: Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force as frequently as needed to move objects
• Experience delivering technical findings to a non-technical audience, preferred
• Provide findings in a confident, factual manner, preferred
• Knowledge and experience in handling PII, PHI, sensitive, confidential and proprietary datasets, preferred
• Experience with Cyber insurance investigations, preferred

Qualifications

Must Haves

• Deep understanding of Forensic artifacts, including (but not limited to) the analysis of operating system artifacts and the recovery of deleted items from multiple operating systems including Windows, Linux, Mac and RAM/memory forensics
• Experience analyzing network and operating system log files including Windows Event logs, Unified Audit Logs, Firewall logs, VPN logs, etc
• Working knowledge of:
• Windows disk and memory forensics
• Network Security Monitoring (NSM), network traffic analysis, and log analysis
• Unix or Linux disk and memory forensic
• Experience and understanding of enterprise security controls
• Experienced with EnCase, Axiom, FTK, X-Ways, SIFT, Splunk, Redline, Volatility, WireShark, TCP Dump, and other open-source forensic tools
• Associate's degree and 4+ years of incident response or digital forensics experience or Bachelor's Degree in Information Security, Computer Science, Digital Forensics, Cyber Security or related field
• Possess One or more of the following Certifications
• Security +, Network+, SANS GCED, GCIH, GCFE, GCFA, CEH, CHFI
• No physical exertion required
• Travel within or outside of the state
• Light work: Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force as frequently as needed to move objects

Nice to Haves

• Experience delivering technical findings to a non-technical audience, preferred
• Provide findings in a confident, factual manner, preferred
• Knowledge and experience in handling PII, PHI, sensitive, confidential and proprietary datasets, preferred
• Experience with Cyber insurance investigations, preferred

Benefits

• Fully paid medical benefits
• Fully paid dental benefits
• Fully paid life insurance
• Fully paid disability insurance
• 401(k)
• Opportunity to work with some of the latest and greatest in the fast-growing cyber security industry