Fall 2026 IT Intern ( Incident Responder)

Summary

The Administrative Office (AO), an agency of the judicial branch of the federal government, is committed to serving and supporting the federal court system of the United States. The AO provides a broad range of legislative, legal, financial, technology, management, administrative and program support services to the federal courts.

Duties

• OPPORTUNITY: The AO is seeking applicants for its Student Internship Program. The opportunity is intended to provide valuable work experience and prepare students interested in a public service career. The AO is looking for student interns with backgrounds and/or demonstrated interest in the following areas: human resources, public affairs, law, business administration (marketing, budget, accounting, etc.), and information technology. The student intern will have an opportunity to improve his or her writing, research, analytical, logical, multi-tasking, and customer service skills. Additionally, student interns are provided with several networking opportunities with fellow interns, agency employees, and other government employers. All AO internships are onsite at the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building in Washington, DC. Telework is not permitted. This specific internship will be in the Department of the Chief Information Office (DCIO), Information Technology Security Office (ITSO). Duties include, but are not limited to: Conducting thorough analysis of network, endpoint, and application logs to identify and assess intrusions, determine their scope and impact, and implement appropriate containment strategies to mitigate threats. Reviewing real-time dashboards, studies technical and user-behavioral anomalies, and correlates events from multiple sources to help identify early signs of compromise such as unusual login patterns, abnormal network traffic, unauthorized file changes, privilege misuse, or suspicious process execution. Providing timely and accurate incident status updates to key stakeholders, including the incident commander, SOC leaders, and executives. Maintaining and enhances the organization's incident response framework by defining and refining the incident declaration processes, updating the Judiciary's Incident Response Plan, and identifying gaps in existing procedures, awareness training, or playbooks to improve compliance and reduce risk. Developing and tests enterprise-wide detection and response capabilities, including endpoint artifact retrieval, isolation techniques, and Yara rule creation, to improve threat detection and containment at scale. Driving continuous improvement through the development and validation of readiness exercises, standard operating procedures, and playbooks, while pioneering innovative incident response techniques for PaaS and SaaS cloud environments and leveraging automation to streamline response efforts. Communicating analysis of incidents, response actions, detection gaps, policy violations, and improvement measures, to update response strategies based on evolving understanding of threats and post-incident reviews.

Qualifications

All students in the Volunteer Student Internship Program must be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a degree-seeking student, taking at least a half-time academic or technical course load in an accredited 2 year or 4 year program, or in a post-secondary level program. Students must also be in good academic standing, maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Additional Qualification Requirements: In addition to meeting the BASIC QUALIFICATIONS REQUIREMENTS, applicants must also: Work well in a team environment. Have strong organization and communication skills and be detailed oriented. Have a working knowledge of computer applications such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or WordPerfect. Have excellent writing, reading, and interpersonal skills. Be able to organize a variety of assignments simultaneously and meet tight deadlines. The ideal candidate is an undergraduate or graduate student in Cybersecurity. The Student Internship Program requires all participants to be an active student. Therefore, seniors graduating at the end of the current semester will not be considered unless they are continuing to pursue advanced studies as a degree-seeking student at the beginning of the next semester.

Education

All students in the Student Internship Program must be enrolled in an accredited school and must be working toward a degree, diploma, certificate, etc. on a full-time or part-time basis. Students must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA. You can receive credit for education received outside the United States if you provide evidence that it is comparable to an accredited educational institution in the United States. A transcript is required at the time of application for proof of enrollment and education.

Requirements

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT All information is subject to verification. Applicants are advised that false answers or omissions of information on application materials or inability to meet the following conditions may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed. Selection for this position is contingent upon completion of OF-306, Declaration of Federal Employment during the pre-employment process and proof of U.S. citizenship. For a list of documents that may be used to provide proof of citizenship or authorization to work in the United States, please refer to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. All new AO interns will be required to complete an FBI fingerprint-based national criminal database and records check and pass a public trust suitability check. New interns to the AO will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights/responsibilities, visit https://www.e- verify.gov/. All new AO interns are required to identify a financial institution for direct deposit of pay before appointment.

Evaluations

We will review your resume and supporting documentation and compare this information to your responses on the occupational questionnaire to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for this job. If you meet the minimum qualifications for this job, we will evaluate your application package, to assess the quality, depth, and complexity of your accomplishments, experience, and education as they relate to the requirements listed in this vacancy announcement. You should be aware that your ratings are subject to evaluation and verification. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume and/or narrative responses, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Failure to submit the mandatory narrative responses will result in not receiving full consideration and/or rating credit. Deliberate attempts to falsify information may be grounds for not selecting you, withdrawing an offer of the internship opportunity, or dismissal after the internship begins.

How to apply

As indicated above, to apply for this position, you must complete an Application Package, which includes: Your resume - including your college, major/area of study, and anticipated graduation date. Citizenship - include country of citizenship on resume. A completed Occupational Assessment Questionnaire. Transcripts showing you are currently enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a degree-seeking student in either an undergraduate or graduate level program and must have completed at least one year of undergraduate education beyond high school. The transcript must show an overall GPA of at least 3.0. The complete application package must be submitted by 07/28/2026 to receive consideration. Apply Online to access an online application. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account or you may need to create a new account. You will be taken to an online application. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation, and submit the application. You will receive an email notification when your application has been received for the announcement.. To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Application Status page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and your responses submitted to the online application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. Click the following link to view and print the occupational questionnaire https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13005439.

What to expect next

After a review of your complete application is made, you will be notified of your rating and referral to the hiring official if determined qualified. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted.

Required documents

For this job announcement the following documents and/or information are required: Your resume - including your college, major/area of study, and anticipated graduation date. Citizenship - include country of citizenship on resume. Note: an unofficial transcript will be required at the time of application and must be submitted before the closing date.

Other information

The AO is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Benefits: Student interns are eligible for up to $340 of commuting benefits cost to travel to and from their AO internship. Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.