Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks® everything starts and ends with our mission: Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life. 

We have the vision of a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. These aren’t easy goals to accomplish – but we’re not here for easy. We’re here for better. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we’re looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are. 

FLEXWORK is an employee-centric reimagining of how we work. We built FLEXWORK based on employee feedback – it is about flexibility, trust, and choice whenever possible. It’s been a journey of disruption that has yielded the best of our values. We offer as much flexibility as possible, and choices that enable you to be most productive, including benefits that meet your needs and learning opportunities that you feel passionate about.

Our Approach to Work

At Palo Alto Networks, we believe in the power of collaboration and value in-person interactions. This is why our employees generally work from the office three days per week, leaving two days for choice and flexibility to work where you feel most effective. This setup fosters casual conversations, problem-solving, and trusted relationships. While details may evolve, our goal is to create an environment where innovation thrives, with office-based teams coming together three days a week to collaborate and thrive, together! 

Unit 42 is offering paid summer internships at our headquarters in Reston, VA, to motivated students who are currently working towards Bachelors or Masters degrees. Our interns are passionate about cybersecurity, interested in gaining hands-on practical, investigative experience, and value the opportunity to learn from some of the industry’s leading experts in digital investigations and offensive security.

Our Summer Internship Program from May-August or June-September provides you:

• 1:1 mentorship 
• Fun and engaging events that inspire your intellectual curiosity 
• The opportunity to expand your knowledge and work on challenging projects 
• Connections to other recent grads, and employees across the company as well as our leaders
• The opportunity to learn about, and interact with, the different Unit 42 service offerings

There are three tracks for the Intern - Unit 42 position:

• Governance Risk & Compliance (GRC)
• Incident Response (IR)
• Offensive Security (OS)

Governance Risk & Compliance (GRC)

Your Impact

• Gain the knowledge and experience to start a career in cybersecurity 
• Each intern will be assigned a mentor as well as a supervisor to support your professional development within the field 
• Shadow engagements related to matters such as ransomware, network intrusions, business email compromise, and intellectual property theft 
• Work with members of the Professional Services team to learn common digital forensic and incident response case workflows and further develop your technical and investigative skills 
• Develop experience with cutting-edge technology, Palo Alto Networks/Unit 42 custom tools, and third-party forensic suites to assist with digital investigations 
• Complete a summer-long project on a related topic and present your results to the firm at the conclusion of the program

Your Experience

• Currently pursuing a Bachelors or Masters degree in a related field such as information security, computer science, digital forensics, or cybersecurity 
• Passion and enthusiasm for cybersecurity, technology, and digital investigations 
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, and Linux operating systems 
• Training in and/or experience with the fundamentals of digital forensic and incident response investigations and related artifacts 
• Exposure to and/or experience using common commercial and open-source forensic suites and applications (e.g., EnCase, X-Ways, AXIOM, Volatility, Autopsy, etc.) 
• Ability to understand technical concepts and to articulate these topics clearly to all levels of technical aptitude 
• Ability to adapt quickly to and operate within a fast-paced environment, managing multiple priorities 
• Also desirable, familiarity or proficiency with scripting and/or programming
• You must have authorization to work within the United States

Incident Response (IR)

Your Impact

• Gain the knowledge and experience to start a career in cybersecurity. 
• Each intern will be assigned a mentor as well as a supervisor to support your professional development within the field. 
• Shadow engagements related to matters such as ransomware, network intrusions, business email compromise, and intellectual property theft. 
• Work with members of the Professional Services team to learn common digital forensic and incident response case workflows and further develop your technical and investigative skills. 
• Develop experience with cutting-edge technology, Palo Alto Networks/Unit 42 custom tools, and third-party forensic suites to assist with digital investigations. 
• Complete a summer-long project on a related topic and present your results to the firm at the conclusion of the program.

Your Experience

• Currently pursuing a Bachelors or Masters degree in a related field such as information security, computer science, digital forensics, or cybersecurity 
• Passion and enthusiasm for cybersecurity, technology, and digital investigations 
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, and Linux operating systems 
• Training in and/or experience with the fundamentals of digital forensic and incident response investigations and related artifacts 
• Exposure to and/or experience using common commercial and open-source forensic suites and applications (e.g., EnCase, X-Ways, AXIOM, Volatility, Autopsy, etc.) 
• Ability to understand technical concepts and to articulate these topics clearly to all levels of technical aptitude 
• Ability to adapt quickly to and operate within a fast-paced environment, managing multiple priorities 
• Also desirable, familiarity or proficiency with scripting and/or programming 
• You must have authorization to work within the United States

Offensive Security (OS)

Your Impact

• Gain the knowledge and experience to start a career in cybersecurity. 
• Each intern will be assigned a mentor as well as a supervisor to support your professional development within the field. 
• Shadow/support live client engagements related to matters such as vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, phishing, code review, mobile application tests, and payload development.
• Work with members of the offensive security team to learn common pentesting methodologies, tools, techniques and procedures. 
• Develop experience with cutting-edge technology, Palo Alto Networks/Unit 42 custom tools, and third party tools like Kali Linux, Burp Suite, Corellium, Nessus, Hashcat, etc. 
• Complete a summer-long project on a related topic and present your results to the firm at the conclusion of the program.

Your Experience

• Currently pursuing a Bachelors or Masters degree in a related field such as information security, computer science, digital forensics, or cybersecurity 
• Passion and enthusiasm for cyber security, technology, penetration testing, and hacking
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Windows, MacOS, and Linux operating systems 
• Training in and/or experience with the fundamentals of operating systems, networking, programming, firewalls, antivirus, databases, etc. 
• Training and/or experience with programming languages like shell scripts, Python, C#, etc. 
• Exposure to and/or experience using common commercial and open-source penetration testing tools, exploitation suites and applications (e.g., Kali Linux, Metasploit, Burp Proxy, Nmap, Hashcat, Nessus, etc.) 
• Ability to understand technical concepts and to articulate these topics clearly to all levels of technical aptitude 
• Ability to adapt quickly to and operate within a fast-paced environment, managing multiple priorities 
• Also desirable, familiarity or proficiency with scripting and/or programming 
• You must have authorization to work within the United States

Please note that we will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.

The Team

Unit 42’s Consulting team specializes in providing incident response, digital forensics, and proactive risk management consulting services to a growing list of clients ranging from small enterprises to Fortune 50 corporations, as well as federal government agencies. Our experts combine deep security knowledge and proprietary technology to rapidly provide effective incident response, attack-readiness, and remediation plans for organizations around the world. With offices in Reston, New York, Austin, and Los Angeles, we are firmly entrenched and well positioned as a leading provider of incident response. 

Our Commitment

We’re trailblazers that dream big, take risks, and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together. 

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at accommodations@paloaltonetworks.com. 

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics. 

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines. 

The compensation offered for this position will depend on year in school, qualifications, experience, and work location. For candidates who receive an offer at the posted level, the starting base salary (for non-sales roles) or base salary + commission target (for sales/commissioned roles) is expected to be between $34/hr to $36/hr.

Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. With more than 85,000 customers, and a growing presence in over 150 countries, it’s a great time to join Palo Alto Networks and make a global impact. Our commitment to innovation in cybersecurity runs deep, inspiring us to seek new opportunities, new ways to collaborate, and new ways to make a difference.