Postdoc in Cyber security: Attack modeling and simulations

KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm has grown to become one of Europe’s leading technical and engineering universities, as well as a key centre of intellectual talent and innovation. We are Sweden’s largest technical research and learning institution and home to students, researchers and faculty from around the world. Our research and education covers a wide area including natural sciences and all branches of engineering, as well as architecture, industrial management, urban planning, history and philosophy.

Job description

The Division of Network and Systems Engineering at the school of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is conducting research relating attack graphs as a means to analyze the security posture of computer systems. Attack graphs are formal (often probabilistic) models over potential attack vectors in systems that encodes the difficulty of succeeding with attacks given various system conditions and defense mechanisms. Our research is largely devoted to developing various solutions for automating the generation of attack graphs. This includes for instance languages and formal methods for attack graph generation, automatic attack process mining through sensors and system indicators, data-driven attack graph tuning (based e.g. on threat intelligence), and optimization/self-learning techniques, such as machine learning, for secure design.

This post doc project is particularly focused on developing attack graph-based model solutions for SCADA systems used in critical infrastructure processes. Such systems are vital for a modern society and they are being increasingly interconnected with other systems the digitalized society which introduce a number of new attack surfaces and research challenges. The project is conducted within the research centre Resilient Information and Control Systems (www.rics.se). The position is for two years and also includes teaching duties.

What we offer

• A position at a leading technical university that generates knowledge and skills for a sustainable future
• Engaged and ambitious colleagues along with a creative, international and dynamic working environment
• Works in Stockholm, in close proximity to nature
• Help to relocate and be settled in Sweden and at KTH

Read more about what it is like to work at KTH

Qualifications

Requirements

• A doctoral degree (or close to completion) in cyber security, IT security, information security, software engineering, computer science, or related field is required.
• The doctoral degree must have been obtained within the last three years from the application deadline (some exceptions for special grounds, for instance sick leave and parental leave, kindly indicate if such reason exists in your resume).
• Ideal candidates must have a strong background in at least a few of fields such as programming, formal methods and models, machine learning, statistics and probabilistic reasoning, cyber security, and penetration testing.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills and ability to write peer reviewed papers.

Preferred qualifications

Knowledge and skills that are meritorious for the position

• Research expertise
• Teaching abilities
• Awareness of diversity and equal opportunity issues, with specific focus on gender equality
• Collaborative abilities
• Independence

Great emphasis will be placed on personal competency

Trade union representatives

You will find contact information to trade union representatives at KTH's webbpage.

Application

Log into KTH's recruitment system in order to apply to this position. You are the main responsible to ensure that your application is complete according to the ad.

• CV including relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Copies of diplomas and grades from your previous university studies. Translations into English or Swedish if the original documents are not issued in one of these languages.
• Brief account of why you want to conduct research, about your academic interests and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals; max 2 pages long.
• Representative publications or technical reports: Documents no longer than 10 pages each. For longer documents (eg dissertations), attach a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text.
• Letter of recommendation and contact information for two reference persons. We reserve the right to contact references only for selected candidates.

Your complete application must be received at KTH no later than the last day of application, midnight CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

About the employment

The position offered is for, at the most, two years.

A position as a postdoctoral fellow is a time-limited qualified appointment focusing mainly on research, intended as a first career step after a dissertation.

Others

Striving towards gender equality, diversity and equal conditions is both a question of quality for KTH and a given part of our values.

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Disclaimer: In case of discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.

Type of employment Temporary position longer than 6 months
Contract type Full time
First day of employment According to agreement
Salary Monthly salary
Number of positions 1
Working hours 100%
City Stockholm
County Stockholms län
Country Sweden
Reference number J-2021-1025
Contact
Mathias Ekstedt, Professor, mekstedt@kth.se
Natasha Kapama, HR-administrator, kapama@kth.se
Published 19.Apr.2021
Last application date 12.May.2021 11:59 PM CET