![DFEND Summer Intern Hero](/sites/default/files/styles/hero_image/public/2024-08/DSI_2.png?itok=IfPoO1r1)
ManTech DFEND Summer Internship
The DFEND (Dominion Forensic Engineering and Development) program is a paid, eight-week summer internship program for students entering their senior year of high school or freshman year of college. The program provides an exciting opportunity for ambitious students to experience forensic technologies in a real-world lab environment with dedicated mentors.
Interns are given meaningful, challenging assignments both at an individual and group level with the opportunity to out brief their experience at the end of the program.
DFEND looks for Academies of Loudoun students pursuing a degree in Information Technology or another STEM degree with knowledge of a scripting language (Python, C#, etc), familiarity with a mix of operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux distros), the desire learn quickly, creativity, and collaborate with fellow students and mentors.
Students gain hands-on experience working with the latest technologies in the following areas:
PROJECTS
Hardware Engineering
Students will have the opportunity to learn basic circuit design principles, create real life applicable hardware solutions, determine how to troubleshoot hardware faults, and how to code microcontrollers to enable hardware circuitry and provide for user interaction.
Skills That You Will Learn
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Circuit design principles
-
Circuit troubleshooting
-
Designing hardware-user interfaces
-
How to establish inter-device communications
-
Python programming
-
Raspberry Pi
-
Embedded device forensics
-
Third party device integration
-
And more!
Programming
Students will have the opportunity to develop a product either individually or as part of a team.
Skills That You Will Learn
-
HTML and CSS
-
JavaScript
-
MySQL, MongoDB, SQLite (depending on the project)
-
PHP, C#, Python, C, Assembly (depending on the project)
-
Virtualization
-
Docker
-
And more!
Reverse Engineering
Students will have the opportunity to do assembly-level analysis of various executables to determine their functionality and to identify and decipher code of significance.
Skills That You Will Learn
-
Anti-debugging techniques
-
Assembly code
-
Byte-level analysis (little-endian vs. big-endian)
-
Cryptography
-
Dynamic and static analysis
-
Python programming
-
Steganography
-
File format analysis
-
Virtualization
-
And more!
Computer Forensics
Students will have the opportunity to solve various computer forensics challenges, with projects such as disk imaging, pattern-of-life assessments, unknown file analysis, data parsing, data deobfuscation, and scripting to automate tasks.
Skills That You Will Learn
-
Artifact parsing (log files, registry, etc.)
-
Byte-level analysis (little-endian vs. big-endian)
-
Cryptography
-
Data and metadata analysis
-
Disk imaging and mounting
-
File carving
-
Python programming
-
Regular expressions
-
Steganography
-
Embedded device analysis
-
Virtualization
-
And more!
Mobile Forensics
Students will have the opportunity to overcome challenges posed by forensic analysis of mobile devices. Projects involve mobile device data extraction and data analysis.
Skills That You Will Learn
-
Automation through Python programming
-
Cryptography
-
Data deobfuscation
-
Log parsing
-
Pattern of life assessments
-
Reverse engineering
-
SQLite database analysis
-
Virtualization
-
Wireless network traffic collection and analysis
-
And more!
Data Analytics
Students will have the opportunity to apply machine learning techniques to solve challenging real world problems.
Skills That You Will Learn
-
Exploratory data analysis
-
MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite (depending on the project)
-
Python programming
-
Supervised machine learning
-
Virtualization
-
And more!
Hardware Engineering
Students will have the opportunity to learn basic circuit design principles, create real life applicable hardware solutions, determine how to troubleshoot hardware faults, and how to code microcontrollers to enable hardware circuitry and provide for user interaction.
Skills That You Will Learn
-
Circuit design principles
-
Circuit troubleshooting
-
Designing hardware-user interfaces
-
How to establish inter-device communications
-
Python programming
-
Raspberry Pi
-
Embedded device forensics
-
Third party device integration
-
And more!
Programming
Students will have the opportunity to develop a product either individually or as part of a team.
Skills That You Will Learn
-
HTML and CSS
-
JavaScript
-
MySQL, MongoDB, SQLite (depending on the project)
-
PHP, C#, Python, C, Assembly (depending on the project)
-
Virtualization
-
Docker
-
And more!
Reverse Engineering
Students will have the opportunity to do assembly-level analysis of various executables to determine their functionality and to identify and decipher code of significance.
Skills That You Will Learn
-
Anti-debugging techniques
-
Assembly code
-
Byte-level analysis (little-endian vs. big-endian)
-
Cryptography
-
Dynamic and static analysis
-
Python programming
-
Steganography
-
File format analysis
-
Virtualization
-
And more!
Computer Forensics
Students will have the opportunity to solve various computer forensics challenges, with projects such as disk imaging, pattern-of-life assessments, unknown file analysis, data parsing, data deobfuscation, and scripting to automate tasks.
Skills That You Will Learn
-
Artifact parsing (log files, registry, etc.)
-
Byte-level analysis (little-endian vs. big-endian)
-
Cryptography
-
Data and metadata analysis
-
Disk imaging and mounting
-
File carving
-
Python programming
-
Regular expressions
-
Steganography
-
Embedded device analysis
-
Virtualization
-
And more!
Mobile Forensics
Students will have the opportunity to overcome challenges posed by forensic analysis of mobile devices. Projects involve mobile device data extraction and data analysis.
Skills That You Will Learn
-
Automation through Python programming
-
Cryptography
-
Data deobfuscation
-
Log parsing
-
Pattern of life assessments
-
Reverse engineering
-
SQLite database analysis
-
Virtualization
-
Wireless network traffic collection and analysis
-
And more!
Data Analytics
Students will have the opportunity to apply machine learning techniques to solve challenging real world problems.
Skills That You Will Learn
-
Exploratory data analysis
-
MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite (depending on the project)
-
Python programming
-
Supervised machine learning
-
Virtualization
-
And more!
Student Testimonials
Being an intern this summer was really enjoyable and quite challenging. Whether you’re walking in with a ton of experience or none at all, there is a project to challenge you; be prepared to put in some serious work (I can also promise you’ll make a few friends along the way).
- Allison, class of 2019
It was a wonderful opportunity and I can't wait to come back this next summer. All of the materials were masterfully crafted and made with us in mind, something that I really enjoyed.
- Dominic, class of 2019
The DFEND internship at ManTech exposed me to so many different facets of cybersecurity in such a short period of time. Working on the projects gave me real-world experience that improved my skills, and having the mentors there to guide us made the experience that much more educational and enjoyable.
- Henry, class of 2019
I had a great time during the internship. It was a great way to learn to develop my skills, and find new pathways that interest me. The internship gave me a better understanding of the field, and allowed me to test my gained knowledge in various exercises.
- Demetrius, class of 2019
The internship was great, I’m glad I chose it over other ones. The mentors were down to earth and I loved the focus on challenges. I learned a lot more than just straight technical skills.
- Luke, class of 2019
The DFEND internship is a unique program as it challenges you to go beyond your interests and experiment with new ideas, especially in forensics. The problems are exciting, innovative, challenging, and make the atmosphere great as you try to work with different students and solve real-world problems that will make an impact in the computer science world!
- Samarth, class of 2019
10/10 would corrupt a firewall again.
- Caleb, class of 2020
This is the internship of a lifetime, the opportunity is something no graduating high school seniors will find. The projects were applicable to real life problems and the mentors are helping guide us in the right directions without giving the answers away.
- Macayla, class of 2020
Logo Competition
2019 Winner
Congrats to our 2019 Summer Logo Competition winner! - Badar A.
![Logo Winner 2019](/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-comp-1%201%201.png)
2020 Winner
Congrats to our 2020 Summer Logo Competition winner! - Macayla K
![Logo Winner 2020](/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-comp-2%201%201.png)
2022 Winner
Congrats to our 2022 Summer Logo Competition winner! - Luke A.
![Logo Winner 2022](/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-comp-4%201%201.png)
2019 Winner
Congrats to our 2019 Summer Logo Competition winner! - Badar A.
![Logo Winner 2019](/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-comp-1%201%201.png)
2020 Winner
Congrats to our 2020 Summer Logo Competition winner! - Macayla K
![Logo Winner 2020](/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-comp-2%201%201.png)
2022 Winner
Congrats to our 2022 Summer Logo Competition winner! - Luke A.
![Logo Winner 2022](/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-comp-4%201%201.png)