Associate Network Security Engineer

Position: Security Analyst/Engineer Location: Columbia, SC (100% Remote) Contract: 12+ Months Client: State of SC (United States Department of Health and Human Services) Description: Continuously review and correlate security event data across SIEM, EDR, IDS/IPS, and threat intelligence sources to identify complex attack patterns, emerging threats, and security incidents. Perform deep-dive analysis of suspicious activity, validate incidents, determine root cause and impact, and escalate critical incidents with detailed context to Tier 3 as required. Create detailed incident reports, timelines, and post-incident summaries; contribute to lessons-learned documentation and recommendations for remediation and preventative measures. Investigate user-reported phishing, malware infections, and potential policy violations; advise users and internal/external teams on containment and recovery actions. Recommend updates to SOC playbooks and workflows based on real-world INVESTIGATIONS, fine-tune detection rules. Alert thresholds, and correlation logic to reduce false positives and improve threat coverage. Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure monitoring tools are properly configured and tuned. Integrate new threat intelligence feeds into workflows and proactively hunt for threats using up-to date tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) Serve as a customer-facing SME, "selling" the value of Client services by demonstrating capabilities and resolving issues. Document processes, runbooks, and troubleshooting steps related to SOC operations. Coordinate with engineering, SOC, and agency staff as needed to meet goals. Other duties as needed. Required Skills (rank in order of Importance): 2+ Years of Experience with Security Monitoring and Incident Response. 2+ Years of Experience with MITRE Telecommunication &CK framework. 2+ Years of Experience with dashboard creation and reporting. Required Education/Certifications: Associate''s degree in an information technology or information security related field Four years of relevant work experience may be substituted in lieu of education Two years of experience in supporting large soc operations. Preferred Skills (rank in order of Importance): Experience with the Palo Alto Cortex XSIAM/XDR platform. Knowledge of Linux, network administration and network design. Experience in administration of firewalls, VPN technology, Active Directory, Intrusion Detection/Prevention systems. Candidate is local to Columbia, SC or surrounding city in South Carolina Preferred Education/Certifications: CISSP, CISA, CISO or equivalent advanced security certification. Additional relevant certifications (e.g., CEH, OSCP, GPEN). Vendor certifications related to information security.

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