[TYPES/announce] PostDoc on Static Analysis of Binary Program in LaBRI (Bordeaux)

[Emmanuel Fleury]

We open a one year postdoc position at LaBRI, Bordeaux 1 University,
funded by the MARSHAL+ project (trac.marshalproject.org), on static
analysis of binary programs. The candidate is expected to experiment
new analyses within the Insight framework (insight.labri.fr), which we
develop in Bordeaux. Ideally, the candidate should have an interest in
formal methods (especially abstract-interpretation) and software
security (reverse-engineering and obfuscation techniques).

Application deadline: Monday, 10 December, 2012
Starting date: January, 2013

==== The MARSHAL+ Project ====

The main outcome of the MARSHAL+ project is the design and realization
of a prototype for a portable security product (e.g. a smart card) that
resists all forms of reverse-engineering attacks. The prototype will be
conceived for providing secure access control to digital content, but
the proposed solutions must be portable to further security services
(banking authentication, e-wallet, …). The prototype will include a
module for access control management with a deciphering unit based on
the AES block-cipher, as well as a data decompression module. It will
enable to decipher and read some protected digital content available on
the Internet.

The prototype will have to withstand two types of attacks. First, it
will resist reverse-engineering attacks against the access control
module that aim to recover the deciphering keys. Namely, the data
stored in the device must remain confidential even for an attacker who
is able to recover the memory content as well as the disassembled
instructions running on the device. Secondly, the prototype will be
secure against reverse-engineering attacks that aim to recover the
design of the data decompression module, in a consideration for
protection of the intellectual property.

==== Job Description ====

The postdoc candidate will investigate new techniques of memory
structure reconstruction and CFG recovery from binary program, or might
also take a look on automatic (de-)obfuscation techniques. On a more
practical side, the postdoc candidate will be integrated in the Insight
development team and will be asked to develop several parts of it
(Sparc assembly support, various techniques of analysis and IR-recovery
of binaries).

An ideal candidate for this job has a good knowledge of abstract-
interpretation, SMT-solvers, C/C++ programming, low-level code
(assembly language), reverse engineering, team development
(contributions to Open Source projects), and a few publications in the
field of formal methods would help (preferably in abstract-
interpretation: SAS, VMCAI, CC, …).

The PostDoc will last one year, starting in January 2013 and ending on
December 2013 (start and end date can be negotiated). The monthly net
salary will be between 1800 and 2100 euros depending on the experience
of candidate.

==== How to Apply ====

The candidate must send:

    * A CV.
    * A cover letter.
    * At least two reference letters.
    * A list of publications (if any).


To (regular mail):
Emmanuel Fleury
Univ. Bordeaux, LaBRI,
Building A30, Domaine Universitaire
351, Cours de la Libération
33405 Talence Cedex, France

To (electronic/scanned version):
Emmanuel Fleury (emmanuel.fleury(at)labri.fr)

Application deadline: Monday, 10 December, 2012

Full offer:
http://essv.labri.fr/2012/11/postdoc-on-binary-program-analysis-labri-bordeaux-france/


Regards
-- 
Emmanuel Fleury

Associate Professor,                | Room:  261
Univ. Bordeaux, LaBRI,              | Phone: +33 (0)5 40 00 69 34
Building A30, Domaine Universitaire | Fax: +33 (0)5 4000 66 69
351, Cours de la Libération         | Email: emmanuel.fleury at labri.fr
33405 Talence Cedex, France         | Web:   http://www.labri.fr/~fleury