2027 Internship - Military Systems Cybersecurity Engineer

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory•Laurel, MD

6d•Onsite

About The Position

This internship focuses on improving the cybersecurity of critical military systems. Interns will research cyber resilience for military platforms/systems, supporting state-of-the-art tactical capability development. The team collaborates with industry, academia, and government to study, design, develop, implement, and test cyber capabilities for air, afloat, ground, and undersea platforms and systems. Interns will work on areas such as Operational Software Solutions, Cyber Systems Engineering, Cyber Analytics, and AI/ML for Cyber. They will research capability gaps, prototype solutions, work with professionals on national security challenges, and gain experience presenting technical findings.

Requirements

Pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related fields.
Educational background or specialization interest in at least one of the following categories: Operational Software Solutions (Experience with programming languages such as Python, Rust, C, C++, Java, scripting, and testing), Cyber Systems Engineering (Experience writing and analyzing requirements in accordance with standards such as INCOSE and IEEE/ISO. Experience developing system models using tools such as Cameo Enterprise Architecture), Cyber Analytics (Experience with threat assessment, attack frameworks, and mitigation strategies. Experience developing algorithms and tools to analyze systems. Experience with mathematical modeling to solve cybersecurity problems), AI/ML for Cyber (Experience with Large Language Models (LLMs), agentic harness development, RAG, agentic tool calling, trace analysis, prompt injection and mitigations).
A minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
Able to obtain an Interim Secret level security clearance by your start date and can ultimately obtain a Top-Secret level clearance.
U.S. citizenship is required for security clearance eligibility.

Nice To Haves

Previous relevant experience in internships, professional roles, or personal work in the field of cybersecurity.
Demonstrate the ability to learn about and see complex systems from a defender or attacker point of view.
Demonstrate the ability to design systems to be resilient against cyberattack.
Skills working with a wide variety of computer systems (Linux/Unix operating systems).
Experience with automation, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), databases, and secure software development.
Experience with computer networks and network analysis tools (e.g., Wireshark, Suite, ELK Stack [Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana], Splunk, Suricata).
Experience with virtual machines, virtual networking, and/or hypervisor configuration/management (e.g., ESXi, Hyper-V).
Skills in cybersecurity from university cybersecurity competitions (such as Capture the Flags, Hackathons, Clubs).
An active security clearance.

Responsibilities

Work on state-of-the art areas of research and development such as but not limited to: Operational Software Solutions, Cyber Systems Engineering, Cyber Analytics, AI/ML for Cyber.
Research capability gaps in current systems and prototype solutions in teams from a variety of STEM-related perspectives (systems engineering, software, mathematical modeling).
Work alongside world-class professionals to solve challenges vital to national security.
Gain experience giving technical briefings and presentations on complex cybersecurity engineering topics.