Cyber Defense Analyst

McDonald’s growth strategy, Accelerating the Arches, encompasses all aspects of our business as the leading global omni-channel restaurant brand. As the consumer landscape shifts we are using our competitive advantages to further strengthen our brand. One of our core growth strategies is to Double Down on the 3Ds (Delivery, Digital and Drive Thru). McDonald’s will accelerate technology innovation so 65M+ customers a day will experience a fast, easy experience, whether at one of our 25,000 and growing Drive Thrus, through McDelivery, dine-in or takeaway. 

McDonald’s Global Technology is here to power tomorrow’s feel-good moments.  

That’s why you’ll find us at the forefront of transformative technology, exploring new and innovative ways to serve our millions of customers and spread happiness one delicious Hot Fudge Sundae-dipped fry at a time. Using AI, robotics and emerging tech, we’re digitizing the Golden Arches. Combine that with our unparalleled global scale, and we’re reshaping all areas of the business, industry and every community that is home to a McDonald’s restaurant. We face complex tech challenges every day. But that’s where our diverse and talented teams come in. They’re made up of the best and brightest from all over the globe, and they thrive in the space where feel-good meets fast-paced.  

Check out the McDonald’s  Global Technology Technical Blog to learn how technology and our global team are directly enabling the Accelerating the Arches strategy. 

As a L2 Response Analyst within the Security Operations Center (SOC), your responsibilities include using defensive measures and information gathered from various sources to identify, analyse, and report cybersecurity events, ensuring the protection of McDonald's information assets. You play a crucial role in supporting the Incident Response process, responding to crisis situations, and mitigating immediate and potential cyber threats. Your expertise in security operations, event monitoring, and incident response will be key in this role. The role works directly within Global Cyber Security (GCS), the organization responsible for our Cybersecurity Operations & Incident Response program and critical services, ensuring our leadership makes informed risk-based decisions.

You will collaborate closely with the Incident Response and Cyber Operations teams, working on long-term projects to strengthen our security posture. We are moving fast and are adding to our best-in-class team and joining McDonald's means thinking big every day and preparing for a career that will impact the world. We are customer-obsessed and committed to being leaders in our industry.

The ideal candidate for this role should possess a solid understanding of cybersecurity practices, cloud technologies, detection and response frameworks, and incident handling procedures (containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned). They should be skilled in adhering to established incident response playbooks and practices, have a strong attention to detail, and work collaboratively across global cross-functional teams. The candidate must have:

• Proficiency in computer networking concepts, protocols, and network security methodologies.
• Strong ability to analyse cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
• Competence in authentication, authorization, and access control methods.
• Proficiency in utilizing intrusion detection methodologies and techniques for detecting host and network-based intrusions.
• In-depth knowledge of system and application security threats and vulnerabilities.
• Advanced understanding of network attacks and their relationship to threats and vulnerabilities.
• Proficiency in adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the stages of a cyber attack.
• Proficiency with Windows, MacOS, and/or Linux operating systems.

Responsibilities:

• Continuously monitor and analyse system activity using security operations tools to identify malicious activity.
• Characterize and analyse network traffic and logs to identify potential threats to McDonald’s assets.
• Analyse network alerts from various sources within the enterprise to determine their root cause.
• Provide timely detection, identification, and analysis of possible attacks and intrusions, differentiating them from benign activities.
• Collaborate with the Incident Response (IR) team, market stakeholders, and SOC to validate security events and provide tuning input.
• Perform event correlation to gain situational awareness and assess the effectiveness of observed attacks.
• Conduct security operations and incident response trend analysis and reporting.
• Assist in constructing signatures for defense network tools in response to new or observed threats.
• Assist in eDiscovery and Forensic investigations
• Monitor external data sources to stay informed about cyber defense threat conditions.
• Offer cybersecurity recommendations to leadership based on significant threats and vulnerabilities.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to resolve computer security incidents and ensure vulnerability compliance.

Desired Skills:

• Professional certification such as GIAC, GCIH, GCIA.
• Experience working from Incident Response Playbooks.
• Experience working with case management tools, SOAR, email security solutions, SIEM, and EDR technologies.
• Experience with network/data analysis, packet capture analysis, malware detection, custom intrusion signature development, and advanced information assurance.
• Experience developing automation through scripting languages such as Python.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience in Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or Computer Engineering

At McDonald’s we are People from all Walks of Life... 

People are at the heart of everything we do, and they make the McDonald’s experience. We embrace diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture that means people can be their best authentic self in our restaurants and offices, which helps us to better serve our customers. We have a strong heritage of diversity and representation within our communities, which we are proud of. The diversity of our people, customers, Franchisees and suppliers gives us strength.

We do not tolerate inequality, injustice or discrimination of any kind.  These are hugely important issues and a brand with our reach and relevance means we have a very meaningful role to play.

We also recognise our responsibility as a large employer to continue being active in our communities, helping to develop skills and drive aspirations that will help people to be more aware of the world of work and more successful within it, whether with McDonald’s or elsewhere.”