Cybersecurity enthusiast

I’m a passionate and driven cybersecurity enthusiast, software engineer, and mobile developer with a strong foundation in low-level system development, secure coding practices, and reverse engineering. My journey began with a deep curiosity about how systems work beneath the surface, which naturally led me to specialise in areas such as ethical hacking, ARM64 architecture, and secure Android development.

With hands-on experience gained from the Hacker101 CTF platform and over five years of active participation on HackerOne, I’ve developed an investigative mindset focused on identifying, analysing, and remediating complex security issues. This has translated directly into my software engineering practices, particularly when building or securing applications in performance- and memory-constrained environments like mobile devices.

During my internship with Forage, I worked across a diverse set of technologies—C++, Swift, Typescript, React, Angular, and Node.js. I contributed to several mobile and full-stack projects, following secure-by-design and test-driven development principles. I learned how to write efficient and secure code in multiple environments, ranging from RESTful APIs to front-end applications and mobile experiences.

One of my core strengths lies in working with native code through the Android NDK. I’ve built and optimized C++ modules, resolved native memory leaks using tools like AddressSanitizer and Valgrind, and improved application stability across a variety of Android devices. In one instance, I reverse-engineered a poorly documented third-party library using Ghidra and objdump to refactor inefficient routines in ARM64 assembly. This resulted in a 40% memory usage reduction and significantly improved performance on entry-level phones.

Security is always top of mind in my projects. I’ve built secure authentication modules using inline assembly to obfuscate secrets and employed anti-debugging techniques to harden Android applications. Whether I’m writing system-level C++ code or working on React-based UIs, I always factor in secure communication, input validation, and performance tradeoffs.

Beyond technical skills, I bring strong communication, collaboration, and problem-solving abilities. I’ve worked independently and within teams, planned sprints using agile methodologies, and documented my work clearly for both technical and non-technical stakeholders. I’m self-taught in many areas and constantly seek out opportunities to deepen my knowledge—whether through courses, certifications, or hands-on exploration.

If you're looking for someone who can bridge the gap between high-level software engineering and low-level security, I'm confident I can bring value to your project. I love diving deep into code, solving tough problems, and building secure, performant applications that users can trust.
Check out my GitHub for project examples:
https://github.com/SiyaTM

Let me know if you'd like this edited to fit a specific job or niche.