Commercial Drone Reverse Engineer​/Vulnerability Researcher

Position: Commercial Drone Reverse Engineer / Vulnerability Researcher
** Description*
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* Who We Are:

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* Kudu Dynamics is a 100% employee-owned company, forged out of a decade of experience in computer network operations and staffed with talent who have built, overseen, and enhanced capabilities throughout the entire USG arsenal. Our team of hackers, engineers, makers, and shakers brings deep experience across research, development, deployment, and operations.

Kudu Dynamics is uniquely qualified to anticipate tomorrow's threats and build the next generation of capabilities.

When you come in for your interview, you'll see that Kudu is an amazing place to work, where you'll be surrounded by experts who are ready to teach and learn. Our team has flexible work hours and work-from-home options. When we do work from the offices, we enjoy home-roasted coffee and award-winning work spaces.

We need help on a new project researching and developing advanced capabilities through vulnerability research, reverse engineering, and exploitation of commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The Commercial Drone Reverse Engineer / Vulnerability Researcher will investigate commercial drone hardware, firmware, embedded software, communications protocols, and supporting systems to identify vulnerabilities, characterize system behavior, and develop and demonstrate proof-of-concept capabilities. The candidate will contribute to the design and construction of lab-based experimental test harnesses, perform static and dynamic analysis, and develop tools and techniques to identify, validate, and exploit security weaknesses in complex embedded systems.

This role calls for the creative application of multiple skill sets in a small, agile team that is working onsite at Aberdeen Proving Ground to develop and deliver advanced capabilities directly supporting the U.S. Army. Our program is interested in making breakthroughs on a very aggressive timeline and will involve working directly with reverse engineering, hardware, and vulnerability research teammates to determine exactly what these systems do in the real world and how their security assumptions can be challenged.

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* Responsibilities Include:

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* + Conducting vulnerability research and reverse engineering of commercial drones, embedded firmware, flight controllers, and supporting software

+ Identifying, analyzing, and validating software and hardware vulnerabilities, including developing proof-of-concept exploits

+ Performing static and dynamic analysis of embedded firmware, binaries, and communications protocols

+ Investigating command and control, telemetry, navigation, and other interfaces to identify security-relevant behaviors and attack surfaces

+ Discovering interesting edge cases, undocumented functionality, and exploitable conditions (including designing experiments specifically targeted at teasing these out)

+ Designing and assembling hardware and software test harnesses for lab-based experimentation, debugging, and vulnerability validation

+ Developing and adapting tools for firmware analysis, fuzzing, debugging, instrumentation, and automated vulnerability discovery

+ Researching system security mechanisms, including authentication, encryption, secure boot, firmware updates, and hardware protections

+ Scripting/automating reverse engineering, testing, and experimental activities where possible

+ Developing and demonstrating proof-of-concept capabilities in controlled laboratory environments

+ Critically analyzing, interpreting, documenting, and communicating technical findings and experimental results

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* Minimum Qualifications:

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* + Active TS/SCI security clearance

+ Ability to work onsite at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland

+ Degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or equivalent hands-on experience

+ Demonstrated experience with software or firmware reverse engineering, particularly embedded systems

+ Experience identifying, analyzing, and validating software vulnerabilities, including developing proof-of-concept exploits

+ Strong programming and scripting experience in Python and/or C/C++

Experience with reverse engineering and debugging tools such as Ghidra, IDA Pro, Binary Ninja, GDB, or equivalent

+ Familiarity with embedded processor architectures, assembly language, memory management, and low-level software analysis

+ Knowledge of common software vulnerability classes, memory corruption, input validation weaknesses, and vulnerability research techniques

+ Experience analyzing unfamiliar software or hardware systems to understand…