Research Assistant/Associate (PostDoc) in Security for Large-Scale Software

The Project

Applications are invited for a Research Associate or Research Assistant to join the CHERI hardware/software design team, focusing on applying CHERI to large-scale software.

The Chrompartments project forms part of the £187m ISCF Digital Security By Design (website ) research programme. DSbD aims to build next-generation secure processors using 'CHERI capabilities' (CHERI ), which provide fine-grained memory protection and compartmentalisation. Capabilities are a foundational improvement to the software execution model which enable wide-ranging robust security protections up and down the existing hardware/software stack. As part of the programme Arm is building Morello, a performant 7nm mobile and server-class system-on-chip incorporating a prototype implementation of CHERI capabilities in the ARMv8A architecture.

Chrompartments seeks to understand the best ways to apply CHERI to large-scale software systems through development of a capability-enhanced version of the Chromium web browser. This project is a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and King's College London, aiming to investigate how to transfer existing security policies (in particular, those taking advantage of process-based isolation) to CHERI-based compartments whilst maintaining performance and security. We also plan to investigate new policies, which are enabled by an efficient implementation with CHERI compartments and capabilities. At the University of Cambridge, we are particularly interested in the graphics stack and the way this interacts with the rest of the web browser and the GPU and its system drivers.

Candidates

We are looking for a Research Associate (with PhD) or Research Assistant (without/pre-PhD) to work on software compartmentalisation. They will work as part of a group investigating CHERI's use with graphics drivers and GPUs, and in the large CHERI research team based at the University of Cambridge. They will also be part of the wider international DSbD and CHERI community spanning numerous institutions in academia and industry. The CHERI team has strong track record in publishing at major venues (ISCA, MICRO, IEEE Security and Privacy, ASPLOS, NDSS, HPCA).

The ideal candidate would meet two essential criteria:

• A strong background in software engineering, ideally on large codebases
  *Experience of systems research, including exploration of a design trade-off space, such as from a performance perspective

In addition, one or more of the following attributes would be desirable:

• Knowledge of graphics APIs, such as OpenGL or Vulkan
• Experience with building systems below the application layer (compiler, device driver, operating system,firmware, hardware, etc)
• An understanding of operating-system compartmentalisation
• Awareness of security threats and challenges at the systems level
• Familiarity with working in teams and with robust engineering practices (version control, continuous integration, automated testing)
• Strong interpersonal and organisational skills, and the ability to work in an international team at multiple sites
• Active engagement with downstream industrial and open-source user communities, as well as research collaborators and sponsors

Further Information

To be appointed to a Research Associate or Senior Research Associate applicants should hold a PhD or have equivalent experience; those who are close to submitting a PhD will initially be appointed as a Research Assistant and amended upon graduation. Candidates should provide evidence of relevant work, where possible, and must demonstrate a desire to perform internationally-leading research and to publish in the top conferences.

The funds covering this post are available for two years for a start date of 16 May 2022, although some flexibility can be arranged.

To apply, please submit a cover letter and a cv along with 2 references.

Please quote reference NR30951 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.