Research Intern, Adversarial Intelligence

Job Description

Get to Know Us

Horizon3.ai is a fast-growing, remote cybersecurity company dedicated to the mission of enabling organizations to proactively find, fix and verify exploitable attack vectors before criminals exploit them. Our flagship product, the NodeZeroTM platform, delivers production-safe autonomous pentests and other key assessment operations that scale across the largest internal, external, cloud, and hybrid cloud environments. NodeZero has been adopted by organizations of all sizes, from small educational institutions to government agencies and Global 100 enterprises. It is used by IT Ops/SecOps teams, consulting pentesters, and MSSPs and MSPs.

We are a fusion of former U.S. Special Operations cyber operators, startup engineers & operators, and formerly frustrated cybersecurity practitioners. We're committed to helping solve our common security problems: ineffective security tools and false positives, resulting in alert fatigue, blind spots, "checkbox” security culture, cybersecurity skills shortage, and the long lead time and expense of hiring outside consultants. Collectively, we are a team of learn it alls, committed to a culture of respect, collaboration, ownership, and results.

An Overview

We're looking for Research Interns to join Horizon3 AI Research and work on technical problems at the intersection of super intelligence, systems security, and agentic systems for security.

You'll work on a concrete research problem with researchers and engineers at Horizon3. Depending on the project, this may include AI agents for security, autonomous pentesting, attack-path reasoning, cyber deception, AI safety and security, security evaluation of AI systems, or new methods for reasoning over security data and environments.

This is a hands-on research internship. You will not only study a problem or read the relevant literature; you will also build, experiment, analyze results, and communicate what you learn. Projects may involve research prototypes, experimental infrastructure, AI models or agents, security test environments, attack graphs, system telemetry, or other technical artifacts.

We do not expect every intern to arrive with expertise in both AI and systems security. You should have strong computer science foundations, meaningful experience in at least one relevant technical area, and genuine interest in developing expertise across AI and security.

Interns will receive mentorship and technical guidance throughout the summer, but we also expect curiosity, initiative, and a willingness to investigate difficult technical questions independently.

What You’ll Do

• Work on a defined research project at the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, and computer systems.

• Understand the research problem, relevant technical background, and existing approaches.

• Read and critically evaluate academic papers and technical material related to the project.

• Develop and implement research ideas, algorithms, prototypes, or experimental systems.

• Design and run experiments to evaluate research hypotheses and technical approaches.

• Analyze experimental results carefully and identify limitations, failure modes, and unexpected behavior.

• Work with security data and environments that may include attack paths, graphs, telemetry, configurations, identities, networks, cloud systems, or security controls.

• Collaborate with Horizon3 researchers, security engineers, attack engineers, and other technical teams as appropriate for the project.

• Document methods, experiments, and findings clearly so that the work can be reproduced and continued after the internship.

• Present research progress during the internship and communicate final findings to the broader team.

• Contribute, when appropriate, to research outputs such as technical reports, prototypes, open-source artifacts, patent disclosures, or academic publications.

What You’ll Bring

• Currently pursuing a degree in Computer Science or a related technical field, or equivalent technical experience.

• Strong computer science fundamentals and programming ability.

• Experience or demonstrated interest in systems security, super intelligence / machine learning, computer systems, or a closely related area.

• Ability to translate technical ideas into working implementations.

• Ability to read technical material and learn unfamiliar concepts independently.

• Curiosity about difficult technical problems and willingness to investigate why a system behaves the way it does.

• Interest in both research and engineering. You may be stronger in one area, but you should be comfortable working with both ideas and implementations.

• Ability to receive technical feedback, revise your approach, and learn from mentors and collaborators.

• Ability to communicate technical work clearly in writing and discussion.

What Sets You Apart

• Experience conducting research through an academic research group, independent project, thesis, capstone, internship, or comparable technical work.

• Experience in systems security, offensive security, defensive security, penetration testing, vulnerability research, operating systems, networks, cloud security, identity systems, or related areas.

• Experience with machine learning, deep learning, large language models, AI agents, reinforcement learning, planning, search, graph algorithms, or related AI methods.

• Experience building research prototypes, experimental systems, benchmarks, test environments, or evaluation frameworks.

• Familiarity with security concepts such as attack paths, Active Directory, cloud environments, identity systems, security controls, adversarial techniques, or autonomous security systems.

• Experience reading and implementing ideas from academic papers.

• Participation in research, security competitions, CTFs, open-source projects, or other technically substantial extracurricular work.

• Research publications, conference presentations, open-source contributions, or other evidence of strong technical work. Publications are valuable but are not required.

Exceptional undergraduate students with strong technical or research experience are encouraged to apply. PhD students whose research interests align with Horizon3 AI Research are also strongly encouraged to apply.

Each intern will be paired with a research mentor and assigned a concrete research problem with clear technical objectives. The exact project will depend on the intern's background, interests, and the Lab's active research directions.

Internship Details

• Duration: 10–12 weeks, Summer 2027

• Timing: Approximately May–August 2027

• Location: Onsite | Chicago, IL (in office) or West Lafayette, IN (Purdue University)

• Compensation: $40–$50/hour

Travel Required

We are a fully remote company, and this job may require up to 5% of travel to be successful.

Perks of Horizon3

• Inclusive Team: We value diversity and promote an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive.

• Growth Opportunities: Be part of a dynamic and growing team with numerous career development opportunities.

• Innovative Culture: Work in a collaborative environment that encourages creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

• Hybrid & Remote Work: We embrace a mix of remote and hybrid work models depending on role and location, including our Chicago office, where some roles require regular in-office presence.

• Competitive Compensation: We offer competitive salary, equity and benefits. Our benefits include health, vision & dental insurance for you and your family, a flexible vacation policy, and generous parental leave.

You Belong Here

Horizon3 is not just an equal opportunity employer - we are a community that values diversity, equity, and inclusion as fundamental principles of our culture and success. We are dedicated to fostering a workplace where everyone feels welcome and respected, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, hair length or any other legally protected status by law.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion means we strive to attract, develop, and retain a workforce that reflects the varied communities we serve. We believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation and strengthen our ability to create cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions. At Horizon3, every team member is valued and supported in an environment that encourages personal and professional growth.

We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and experiences, and we encourage all qualified individuals to apply. Come be a part of Horizon3, where your unique contributions are recognized, and your potential is limitless.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Application Note

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.