Senior Hardware Security Researcher
Technology Innovation Institute
United Arab Emirates · Full Time
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- Experience
- 5+ yrs
- Salary
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- Openings
- 1
- Posted
- 4 days ago
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Job description
About Technology Innovation Institute
Technology Innovation Institute is a government-funded research center located in Abu Dhabi, UAE, bringing together top-tier scientists and engineers globally to transform challenges into innovative research and technology solutions.
Position Overview
This position is within the Cryptography Labs Hardware team under the Artificial Intelligence and Digital Research Centre. The Senior Hardware Security Researcher is responsible for leading efforts in hardware and firmware security assessments, combining practical and theoretical techniques to identify vulnerabilities.
Core Responsibilities
- Conduct comprehensive security evaluations of hardware and firmware by applying both physical and logical exploitation methods.
- Extract data from various memory types including Flash, EEPROM, NOR/NAND and other storage media.
- Reverse-engineer firmware and binary files using advanced tools such as Ghidra, IDA Pro, Binary Ninja, or radare2 to detect security flaws.
- Develop and automate specialized test environments and toolchains for hardware/software analysis.
- Execute side-channel attacks including CPA, DPA, electromagnetic, timing, and TVLA assessments, alongside fault injection methods like voltage glitching, electromagnetic fault injection (EMFI), and laser attacks on embedded devices.
- Evaluate secure boot processes, cryptographic algorithms, and firmware security techniques to pinpoint design or implementation vulnerabilities.
- Work with embedded system interfaces such as JTAG, SWD, UART, and SPI for debugging and communication purposes.
- Produce detailed, well-structured technical documentation and reports.
Required Qualifications and Skills
- A minimum of five years executing hardware or embedded system security work that incorporates physical and logical attack vectors.
- Demonstrated ability in firmware extraction and analysis including memory dumping, patching, and reconstruction.
- Expertise in side-channel analysis and fault injection using commercial platforms like ChipWhisperer and Riscure Inspector.
- In-depth knowledge of applied cryptography, secure protocol design, and embedded cryptographic implementation.
- Experience with embedded architectures such as ARM Cortex-M, RISC-V, STM32 and various debugging protocols including JTAG, SWD, UART, and SPI.
- Proficiency in programming with Python, C, and assembly language geared toward hardware interfacing within Linux environments, familiar with build systems, cross-compilation, and version control tools like git.
- Strong familiarity with laboratory instruments including oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, pulse generators, as well as reverse engineering utilities like Ghidra, IDA Pro, Binary Ninja, radare2, and ARM/RISC-V disassembly techniques.
Additional Information
The institute strives to advance society by overcoming significant challenges through a commitment to scientific rigor and partnerships with leading global organizations. Focus areas include AI, advanced materials, robotics, cryptography, digital security, quantum computing, and secure systems development.