New

Penetration Tester: Internship Opportunity

Microsoft
United States, Washington, Redmond
Jan 20, 2026
Overview Come build community, explore your passions and do your best work at Microsoft with thousands of University interns from every corner of the world. This opportunity will allow you to bring your aspirations, talent, potential-and excitement for the journey ahead. The Microsoft Offensive Research & Security Engineering (MORSE) team is looking for a learn-it-all engineer that will help secure Microsoft products and devices. The MORSE team is responsible for securing Microsoft's operating systems, including Windows, cloud computing platforms, and virtualization technologies. These solutions support the daily needs of over one billion customers worldwide. This team performs security design reviews, code reviews, and vulnerability research on key features of Windows and Azure to make sure they meet the highest possible security standards. In this role, you willhelp engineering teams secure the operating systems built at Microsoft.The idealcandidatewillhavehands-onexperience with native code (C/C++),vulnerability research(code audit, writing fuzzers, finding creative ways to break assumptions), a clear understanding of OS security fundamentals, solid computer science skills, and a passion for keeping Microsoft customers safe. As an intern at Microsoft, you're stepping into a world of real impact from day one. You'll collaborate with global teams on meaningful projects, explore cutting-edge technologies like AI, and kick start your career while doing it. With a strong focus on learning and development, this is your opportunity to grow your skills, build community, and shape your future-all while being supported every step of the way. Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond. Come build community, explore your passions and do your best work at Microsoft with thousands of University interns from every corner of the world. This opportunity will allow you to bring your aspirations, talent, potential-and excitement for the journey ahead. Responsibilities Participate in security reviews to identify and mitigate risk in Microsoft products, including design reviews, code reviews, and fuzzing Be the security contact for teams building new innovative products and technologies in the next version of Windows and Azure Identify security vulnerabilities in a wide variety of key OS features such as network protocols, security features, and Microsoft devices Leverage a broad and current understanding of security to devise new protections Interact with the external security community and security researchers Collaborate with product teams to improve security, and articulate the business value of security investments Qualifications Required Qualifications: Candidate must be enrolled in a full time bachelor's or masters program in an area relevant for the role during the academic term immediately before their internship. Must have at least one semester or term of school remaining following the completion of the internship. Preferred Qualifications: Familiarity withreadingC/C++ Participation in security competitions such as Capture the Flag (CTF) Experience exploiting bugs (e.g., buffer overflows, use-after-free) and bypassing security mitigations in operating systems Hands-on experience creating and running fuzzers (e.g., AFL, libFuzzer) Experience with reverse engineering and binary analysis using tools such as IDA Pro, Binary Ninja, or Ghidra Experience with debuggers or other dynamic analysis tools such as WinDbg, GDB, LLDB, Frida, Pin, angr, etc. Proficiency in code auditing and performing static analysis to identify vulnerabilities The base pay range for this internship is USD $5610.00 - $11010.00 per month. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $7270.00 - $12030.00 per month. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-intern-pay Microsoft accepts applications and processes offers for these roles on an ongoing basis throughout the academic calendar (September - April) This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.