Reverse Engineer (Anti - Cheat) in Guildford

Locations: Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom; Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden; Madrid, Spain; Bucharest, Romania.

Role ID: 213132

Worker Type: Regular Employee

Studio/Department: CT - Security

Work Model: Hybrid

Electronic Arts creates next-level entertainment experiences that inspire players and fans around the world. Here, everyone is part of the story. A place where creativity thrives, new perspectives are invited, and ideas matter. The EA Security team protects EA by reducing our exposure to security risks. We raise risk awareness for the entire company and provide measured, proportionate security and risk management controls, services and solutions. We also ensure that EA meets all required security standards as defined by multiple regulatory bodies.

Do you dream in assembly language? Do you spend more time in a debugger than you do in nature? Do you know the difference between an aimbot and a triggerbot? If so, this is the job for you! The Reverse Engineer I is a member of EA Security's Secure Platform Engineering & Anti-Cheat Response (SPEAR) team and will report to the manager of the Gameplay Integrity Operations sub-team. As a Reverse Engineer I, your primary job will be to analyze cheats developed against EA's games and to make it harder for cheat developers to create new cheats. Your work will help ensure fair and fun gaming experiences for EA's customers across all of EA's games.

In addition to analyzing existing cheats, you'll get your hands on new EA games before release so that you can work with developers to make it harder for players to cheat in their games. This means you will perform anti-cheat assessments that will cover everything from client-side tampering (external/internal), to network-based cheating, to source code review of thick clients in order to gauge resilience against cheat/hack tools. Lastly, you'll need to determine the business risk posed by the gameplay integrity issues you discover and communicate your findings across teams to both technical and non-technical audiences.

The ideal candidate has an understanding of reverse engineering principles and a passion to learn new technologies, challenge assumptions, and find new ways to solve problems.

Responsibilities:

• Reverse engineer unobfuscated user-mode cheats developed for PC, mobile, and consoles.
• Document and report on the functionality of the cheats you've analyzed.
• Solve well-defined technical problems in the cheating space.
• Use architecture and design documentation to create anti-cheat assessment scoping documents and define cheating test-cases for upcoming anti-cheat assessments.
• Perform anti-cheat assessments of pre-release products.
• Consult with and advise EA game teams on how to mitigate specific cheats.
• Identify cheat variants that defeat previous mitigations, and suggest solutions.
• Articulate technical issues clearly to technical and non-technical partners.
• Identify needs and drive the development of your reverse engineering skills.

Qualifications:

• Knowledge of operating system fundamentals (processes, threads, virtual memory, etc.).
• Ability to read and understand x86/x64 assembly language.
• Experience with a debugger such as WinDbg, x64dbg, OllyDbg, or gdb.
• Experience with a disassembler such as Ghidra, IDA Pro, Binary Ninja, or radare2.
• Ability to engage and articulate reverse engineering issues and cheating issues to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to read and understand one or more of C++, C#, Java, or .NET CIL.
• Knowledge of cryptography fundamentals.
• Software development experience and the ability to write your own tools, scripts, and extensions.
• Familiarity with mobile platforms.
• Ability to identify knowledge gaps and seek the right sources to close those gaps.
• Ability to safely handle potentially malicious software.
• Ability to pick up new technical skills quickly.
• Excellent verbal and written English skills, interpersonal skills, and professionalism.

Additional Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or Information Security.
• Information Security certifications such as CEH, CISSP, GSEC, OSCP, OSCE, or Security+.
• Experience building tools that automate cheat-related tasks.
• Experience with reverse engineering or anti-cheat/anti-malware development.

We’re proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth. We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do. Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.