Network & Settlement Engineering Intern - Part-Time

Project background

The Future Resilient Internet Exchange (FIREx) is a marketplace for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection built at the Singapore-ETH Centre, the Singapore-based research institute of ETH Zurich. FIREx standardizes and tokenizes DDoS protection infrastructure and provides market for the process of buying and selling those tokens and the settlement up to their provisioning. We collaborate with three industry partners across Singapore and Europe to develop this technology into areal-world product.

The settlement layer is a real Ethereum-compatible PoS blockchain, integrating with the APIs of DDoS defence providers, regional internet registries, and internet routing registries. The network layer on top of that are BGP and GRE tunnels that must hold during DDoS attack is in progress.

Job description

• Define and implement a scalable standard for clean-traffic forwarding using automated GRE tunneling between customer edge/border routers and provider scrubbing centers, including:

1. Tunnel provisioning & routing policy with auto-generation of GRE tunnel interfaces (src/dst IPs, keepalive) and dynamic BGP session establishment over GRE for traffic diversion (advertising more-specific prefixes during attack conditions).
2. Traffic steering & failover logic: Policy-based routing / BGP community tagging to trigger redirection toward scrubbing centers, with health-check-driven fail over and automatic withdrawal after mitigation.
3. Security & validation controls: ACLs / uRPF on tunnel endpoints, MTU/MSS tuning, and rate/flow validation (NetFlow/sFlow) to ensure integrity and prevent tunnel abuse or amplification.

• Develop a secure token-based API framework enabling customer-controlled interaction with scrubbing infrastructure (push mitigation policies, pull telemetry), including:

1. Authentication & authorization layer: OAuth2/JWT-based token issuance with scoped access (per-prefix, per-tenant), expiration, and role-based permissions controlling mitigation actions.
2. Control-plane API design (push): RESTful endpoints for activating mitigation (e.g., prefix diversion, rate limits, white-lists, mitigation profiles), with idempotent requests and audit logging.
3. Telemetry & observability API (pull): Streaming or polling endpoints (REST/WebSocket) exposing real-time metrics (traffic rates, attack vectors, dropped packets)

Selection Criteria

You will have:

• Matriculated (Bachelor / Master / PhD) throughout the internship period at a Singapore university
• Knowledge of basic internetworking (IP and BGP)
• Knowledge in Solidity (Ethereum) is a plus
• Knowledge of Go is a plus
• Ability and willingness to efficiency communicate with 3rd party stakeholders (industry collaborators, RIRs)

Why SEC is your employer of choice?

• Accredited with 5 Tripartite Standards by Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) Singapore.
• A diverse workplace with 32 nationalities, offering ample opportunities for mutual learning.
• Positive and inclusive working environment.
• 25 days of annual leave for fixed-term contracts.
• 1 day of Birthday Leave.
• Annual dental benefits.
• Committed to being a supportive employer as you prioritize your physical and mental wellness.
• Comprehensive healthcare insurance coverage.
• Flexible hybrid work arrangement (up to 2 days per week from home).
• Abundant networking opportunities across various disciplines.
• Accredited with NS mark certification.

The Singapore-ETH Centre is an equal opportunity and family-friendly employer. All candidates will be evaluated on their merits and qualifications, without regards to gender, race, age or religion.

Curious? So are we.

We look forward to receiving your online application with the following documents:

• Cover letter with a specific statement of your motivation for the project.
• CV, including the name and contact information of 2 references.
• A copy of your university transcripts as PDFs.

Applications via email or postal services will not be considered.

Work location: 1 Create Way, CREATE Tower, Singapore 138602 (NUS University Town)

Duration: Full-Time Internship or Part-Time Research Assistant position (Contract), depending on the candidate's preference and assessed suitability for the role

Salary: For Full-Time Internship position: SGD 1500 - SGD 1700 /month, For Part-Time Research Assistant position: $15 per hour for not more than 34 hours per week

Further information about the Singapore-ETH Centre can be found on our website: https://sec.ethz.ch/

For further information, please contact: Dr. Felix KOTTMANN (Singapore-ETH Centre) at [email protected], (strictly no applications)