// cybersecurity student @ Queen's University Belfast
Breaking things to learn how to protect them. Building security tools, solving CTFs, and documenting the journey.
Things I've built and created
A web security scanner that detects technologies (like Wappalyzer) and checks them against CVE databases (OSV & NVD) to find vulnerabilities. Calculates risk scores and displays results in a clean dark-themed interface.
Designed and analyzed intrusion detection systems for a university project. Investigated real packet captures using Wireshark to identify attack lifecycles — from reconnaissance to data exfiltration. Applied signature-based, anomaly-based, and stateful protocol analysis aligned with NIST IDPS guidance.
Documenting challenges and solutions
Breaking XOR encryption using known plaintext attacks. Learn why repeating-key XOR fails when attackers know part of the message.
A beginner-friendly walkthrough covering Nmap scanning, Gobuster enumeration, CVE exploitation, and privilege escalation via vim.
Subdomain enumeration using ffuf and SSL certificate inspection to discover hidden services and capture the flag.
More TryHackMe rooms, HackTheBox machines, and CTF competition writeups coming soon!
I'm a cybersecurity student at Queen's University Belfast with a passion for understanding how systems can be broken and how to defend them.
When I'm not studying, I'm solving CTF challenges, building security tools, or contributing to the cybersecurity community. I believe the best way to learn security is by doing.
This site is where I document my journey from security games I've built to challenges I've conquered.