Internship on Artificial Intelligence and Network Intrusion Detection H/F

Network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) are software components that analyse network traffic and raise alerts when anomalous behaviour is detected. These systems increasingly rely on artificial intelligence to dynamically learn normal patterns in network traffic and identify abnormal behaviour.

A primary challenge in the deployment of AI-based NIDS is automating the correlation of disparate NIDS alerts and the characterisation of ongoing attacks. Large language models (LLMs) are strong candidates for these tasks due to their general ability to undertake network- and security-related tasks of varying complexity.

However, due to security and ownership concerns, relying on cloud-based LLM providers is often not viable. Consequently, on-premise small language models (SLMs) are frequently chosen as a replacement.

Scope of the internship:

This internship will focus on employing SLMs for correlating and characterising NIDS alerts. More specifically, the candidate is expected to investigate different approaches for using on-premise SLMs that ultimately enables to characterise attacks based on MITRE ATT&CK TTPs. Such approaches may make use of agentic workflows and/or information retrieval techniques such as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).

This internship focuses on using Small Language Models (SLMs) to automate the characterisation of NIDS alerts., * Education: Engineering or Master's degree (final year of study).

• Language: Proficiency in English (written and verbal).
• Cybersecurity: Knowledge of network protocols and cybersecurity principles.
• AI/ML: Understanding of AI/machine learning concepts and tools (NumPy, Pandas, TensorFlow/PyTorch).
• Programming: Good programming skills (Python, C/C++, or other C-like languages) and basic understanding of DevOps fundamentals (Git, Docker).

Nice-to-have (but not required):

Experience with LLMs and related frameworks (Hugging Face Transformers, Unsloth, LangChain, llama.cpp).

Durée du contrat (en mois)

Entité de rattachement Le CEA est un acteur majeur de la recherche, au service des citoyens, de l'économie et de l'Etat. Il apporte des solutions concrètes à leurs besoins dans quatre domaines principaux : transition énergétique, transition numérique, technologies pour la médecine du futur, défense et sécurité sur un socle de recherche fondamentale. Le CEA s'engage depuis plus de 75 ans au service de la souveraineté scientifique, technologique et industrielle de la France et de l'Europe pour un présent et un avenir mieux maîtrisés et plus sûrs. Implanté au cœur des territoires équipés de très grandes infrastructures de recherche, le CEA dispose d'un large éventail de partenaires académiques et industriels en France, en Europe et à l'international. Les 20 000 collaboratrices et collaborateurs du CEA partagent trois valeurs fondamentales