Department:
TechnologyOur Company Promise
We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.
Job Description:
Please print/save the job description because it won’t be available after you apply.
To be considered, please ensure that you attach a resume to your application.
We ask that you apply with your personal email address rather than your school email (.edu) so we can stay connected about future roles at Southwest.
Spring 2027 Cybersecurity Analyst Internships
Southwest Airlines is committed to providing Employees with equal opportunities for learning and personal growth. As a Technology Intern, you’ll will contribute to real-time projects, collaborate with fellow interns and cross-functional teams, help advance Company initiatives, and support Southwest’s Purpose of connecting People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel. Throughout the internship, you’ll have the opportunity to learn, grow, and develop as a future professional while making a meaningful impact. The Cybersecurity Analyst Intern should be a strong communicator and collaborator, capable of presenting ideas in both technical and user-friendly terms while helping shape the future of Southwest’s Technology Team.
The Intern will work full-time as a Cybersecurity Analyst Intern within the Technology Department. The Intern may be asked to support a variety of projects within one or more of the following Teams:
Threat Informed Defense:
The Threat-Informed Defense Team helps strengthen Southwest's cybersecurity posture through Threat Intelligence, Threat Hunting, and Adversary Emulation. As a Cybersecurity Intern, you will work alongside experienced cybersecurity professionals to investigate emerging threats, identify malicious activity, and simulate real-world attacks using advanced security tools and threat intelligence platforms. You'll gain hands-on exposure to industry-leading frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK while collaborating across Cybersecurity and Technology teams to improve detection and defense capabilities. This internship provides a unique opportunity to develop practical cybersecurity skills while helping protect one of the nation's largest airlines from evolving cyber threats.
Cybersecurity GRC:
The Cybersecurity Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Team helps Southwest identify, manage, and reduce cybersecurity risk while enabling the business to operate securely and responsibly. As a Cybersecurity Intern, you will gain hands-on experience supporting security frameworks, risk assessments, compliance programs, privacy initiatives, cybersecurity metrics and reporting, and emerging areas such as AI governance. You'll collaborate with stakeholders across Technology and business teams to help strengthen governance practices and support organizational risk management efforts. This internship offers valuable exposure to cybersecurity leadership, governance, risk management, compliance, privacy, audit, and security operations while contributing to the team's mission of protecting and enabling the business through proactive risk management and strong security controls.
Additional Details
The Intern will work full-time as a Cybersecurity Analyst Intern within the Technology Department. This role is offered as a remote workplace position, which may require travel for trainings, meetings, conferences, etc. Outside of those required visits, the majority of your working time may be spent in an approved remote location, away from our Corporate Campus. Please note, while this is a remote position, there is limited group of states or localities ineligible for Employees to regularly perform their work off-site. Those ineligible locations are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New Hampshire New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming, and Puerto Rico.
U.S. citizenship or current authorization to work in the U.S. required and no current or future work authorization sponsorship available.
We’re committed to fair hiring practices and to making employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other legally protected characteristics.
Duties and Responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities of the Cybersecurity Analyst Intern may include but are not limited to:
Work with business customers to conduct needs analysis relative to systems and business processes to create quality technical solutions.
Contribute to the documentation of security processes and procedures, and participate in vulnerability assessments and scanning, assisting in documenting, prioritizing, and tracking vulnerabilities.
Ensure solutions are aligned with internal tooling, business strategies, and comply with departmental standards.
Manage timeframes for designing, coding, testing, and implementing to ensure solutions are delivered on time and within budget.
Serve as a resource to ensure effective communications between business and Technology Teams.
Participate in systems and acceptance testing.
Scope of work varies depending on the Team assignment.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Basic understanding of cybersecurity governance concepts and principles, developing skills and knowledge in information technology (IT) operations, programming, systems/software development, or another IT related field.
Coursework or experience with Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud concepts
Coursework or experience with Incident Response (including NIST CSF) preferred
Coursework or experience with Risk Management Basics
Coursework or experience with PCI DSS Overview
Coursework or experience with Privacy Fundamentals
Coursework or experience with ServiceNow Fundamentals
Coursework or experience with Power BI Data Visualization
Coursework or experience with Data Analysis and Reporting
Coursework or experience with Agile Fundamentals
Experience with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Problem solving ability and strong written/verbal communications skills
Strong communication skills, including ability to describe technical details to non-technical partners
Ability to stay organized and manage multiple and concurrent assignments under tight deadlines
Works well in a culture that is open, direct, respectful, courteous and compassionate preferred
Time Commitment and Pay
Required: Full-time 40hrs a week
Must maintain a consistent weekly schedule during normal business hours at a max of 8hrs per day
Program Dates: January 26, 2027 - April 23, 2027
$26 - $30 /hour, corresponding with progress towards degree completion
Receive free unlimited space available travel privileges for yourself (taxes and fees may apply on international travel)
Interns will be provided with any required equipment, such as a laptop, for the internship
Education
High School Diploma, GED or equivalent education required
Progress towards degree, major, or minor in Cybersecurity, MIS, Business, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems or Information Technology, Operations Research, Industrial Engineering OR similar degree
Progress towards a 4-year undergraduate degree or graduate degree is required
To be eligible, you must be currently enrolled as a full-time student (as defined by your university) at the time of application and during the internship
1-2 semesters remaining at the time the internship ends is preferred
Minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA at the time of application is required
Basic Qualifications
Must be at least 18 years of age
Must have authorization to work in the United States as defined by the Immigration Reform Act of 1986
You must have a valid U.S. Social Security Number to complete the full hiring process
This position requires authorization to work in the United States as a permanent employee without sponsorship now or in the future
Southwest Airlines is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Please print/save this job description because it won't be available after you apply.
Skills Required
- High school diploma, GED, or equivalent education
- Progress toward a degree, major, or minor in Cybersecurity, MIS, Business, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Information Technology, Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, or a similar field
- Progress toward a four-year undergraduate or graduate degree
- Currently enrolled as a full-time student at the time of application and throughout the internship
- Minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA
- At least 18 years of age
- Authorization to work in the United States
- Valid U.S. Social Security Number
- Ability to work in the United States as a permanent employee without current or future sponsorship
- Basic understanding of cybersecurity governance concepts and principles
- Developing skills in IT operations, programming, systems or software development, or another IT-related field
- Coursework or experience with AWS cloud concepts
- Coursework or experience with incident response, including NIST CSF
- Coursework or experience with risk management basics
- Coursework or experience with PCI DSS overview
- Coursework or experience with privacy fundamentals
- Coursework or experience with ServiceNow fundamentals
- Coursework or experience with Power BI data visualization
- Coursework or experience with data analysis and reporting
- Coursework or experience with Agile fundamentals
- Experience with Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to explain technical details to non-technical partners
- Ability to stay organized and manage concurrent assignments under tight deadlines
- Works well in an open, direct, respectful, courteous, and compassionate culture
- One to two semesters remaining at the end of the internship
Southwest Airlines Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Southwest Airlines and has not been reviewed or approved by Southwest Airlines.
-
Pay Growth & Progression — Pay progression is described as materially improving after major 2024 union agreements, especially for pilots and flight attendants. Compensation satisfaction is framed as stronger over time as step scales and seniority accumulate.
-
Retirement Support — Retirement support stands out through a dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match and the presence of profit-sharing contributions that can add to retirement savings. Stock purchase access is also positioned as an additional ownership-oriented component of total rewards.
-
Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing and lifestyle value is elevated by extensive space-available travel privileges and broad travel-related discounts that can materially offset personal travel costs. Recognition mechanisms like points-based rewards are also positioned as an added lifestyle-oriented perk.
Southwest Airlines Insights
What We Do
At Southwest Airlines we connect People to what’s important in their lives—that also means connecting our Employees to what’s important in their lives! Our Employees value the opportunity to work hard, be creative, and have fun on the job. Southwest Airlines recognizes, respects, and values differences. By fostering a culture that embraces and utilizes our diversity, we create competitive advantages in teamwork and innovation that contribute to our overall success.
