Alex · Cyber Security & IT

About me

I'm a cyber security graduate with hands on experience on both sides of the field: penetration testing, incident response and network security, alongside UK GDPR, risk and resilience.

I've led a four person pen test team from the first client meeting to the final report, directed a five person incident response team through a live cyber drill, and attacked a vulnerable Windows machine from start to finish in a lab. My MSc dissertation produced a privacy tool whose labels matched a manual review on 23 of 24 criteria.

Alongside my studies I was elected course rep three years running and mentored first year students, and I run my own Linux servers.

I'm looking for work experience or a first role in a SOC, IT or GRC team, where I can put these skills to work and keep learning.

Looking forWork experience or a first role in IT support, infrastructure, cyber security, GRC or data protection
Work preferenceRemote roles anywhere in the UK, or in person roles within commuting distance (location shared on request)
AvailabilityAvailable immediately
DrivingFull UK manual licence · own transport

Education

University of South Wales (USW), Treforest

First Class Honours

Year 1 Modules

Computer Systems and Network TechnologiesDistinction
Professionalism and EmployabilityDistinction
Information EngineeringDistinction
Cyber Tools and ProcessesPass
Secure Design, Testing and ProgrammingMerit
Mathematical Tools for Computer Forensics and SecurityMerit

Year 2 Modules

Project Management and Professional PracticeDistinction
Operating System Theory and ImplementationDistinction
Applied Computer NetworkingPass
Team Project Pen TestingMerit
Internet Applications SecurityMerit
Securing Data with CryptographyDistinction

Year 3 Modules

Ethical HackingDistinction
Cyber Dissertation ProjectDistinction
Secure Operations and Incident ManagementDistinction
The Cyber Professional in PracticeMerit

USW, National Cyber Security Academy, Newport

Final classification pending

Modules

Networking TechnologiesDistinction
Leadership and Transformational Change in a Digital EraDistinction
Crisis and Operational ResilienceMerit
Protecting Critical National InfrastructurePass
Legislation, Risk and GovernanceDistinction
Security Management and Incident ResponseDistinction
MSc Dissertation Projectresult due November 2026

Projects

MSc Dissertation · c.16,000 words

Privacy Nutrition Labels for UK Web Users

Reading every privacy policy you meet in a year would take around 244 hours, so most people don't. I built a browser extension that uses an LLM to read a website's privacy policy and turn it into a standardised "nutrition label", with every claim linked back to the part of the policy it came from. Tested on four live policies, its labels agreed with a manual reading on 23 of 24 criteria.

Design Science Research
LLM
Browser extension
UK GDPR
Surveys & interviews

More info

Designing, Evaluating, and Publishing an Evidence-Referenced Website Privacy Nutrition Label for UK End Users

The problem: online consent relies on people reading privacy policies, and that system is broken. Most people agree without reading, and tools run by volunteers, like ToS;DR, can't keep up
Research: reviewed research on privacy policies, GDPR requirements and LLM reliability studies. LLM tools can automate this, but show error rates of around 16%, so a fixed approach grounded in evidence was needed
Method: Design Science Research, with a survey of 25 users and interviews with 3 extension users, developed through iterative design phases
Design: every policy is scored against the same fixed GDPR rubric so labels are comparable. Risky findings get extra friction, and missing information is shown honestly rather than guessed
Safeguards: a check that verifies each clause, to catch hallucinated claims, and cryptographic consent snapshots
Evaluation: tested on four live policies against a manual reading. The labels agreed on 23 of 24 criteria, and every quoted clause matched the policy word for word. All three test users rated the label highly for clarity, and pointed to sideloading as a barrier to adoption
Outcome: delivered a working extension, and recommended a seeded error trust study and entailment checking as next steps
Now: it works, but free LLMs aren't reliable enough yet for a public release. A walkthrough is available on request

BSc Dissertation · c.10,000 words

A Data Protection Framework for UK SMEs

The UK has around 5.6 million small and medium businesses, and existing frameworks are often too costly or complex for them. I built a free website that turns UK GDPR obligations into clear guidance, templates and training they can actually use.

Mixed methods
UK GDPR
DPA 2018
Surveys & interviews
GitHub Pages

More info

Data Protection Strategies: Creating an Actionable Framework for Improving Data Protection Compliance in Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) in the United Kingdom

Research: critically analysed UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 against SME obligations, including how hard principles like Article 5 are to apply with limited resources. Found a clear gap in guidance written for SMEs
Method: mixed methods. Surveyed around 50 SMEs, interviewed 2 SMEs and a web developer, and built the framework in three iterative phases
Design: free templates, guides and training resources, hosted on GitHub Pages with no tracking or data collection. Designed to complement legal advice, not replace it
Evaluation: SME and expert feedback confirmed it was clear, relevant and practical. Suggested improvements included FAQs, more depth and interface upgrades, and developer input improved link behaviour and image loading
Limitations: a small sample and no data on performance over time
Recognition: presented the poster at GradEx, where it was selected for display at the 8th International Conference on Emerging Technologies in Computing (IAER), 2025

Skills

GovernancePrivacy, Risk & ComplianceUK GDPR, risk, resilience

UK GDPR & Data Protection Act 2018
International data transfers: asked the ICO directly how the UK's test compares with the EU's
Risk assessment & business impact analysis
Business continuity planning & crisis management
Operational technology & critical national infrastructure security

FrameworksStandards & FrameworksNCSC CAF, NIST, ISO 22301, Cyber Essentials

NCSC CAF & NIST CSF, critically evaluated against each other
ISO 22301, used to write a business continuity plan
Mock Cyber Essentials assessment in class
Familiar with ISO/IEC 27001 & MITRE ATT&CK

DefensiveSecurity OperationsIncident response, log analysis, playbooks

Incident response in a live cyber drill
Tracing an attack through system logs
Checking attacker IPs with VirusTotal
Writing incident response playbooks
Network intrusion detection design

OffensiveEthical HackingPen testing, Kill Chain, cryptography

Penetration testing, from scoping to report
Cyber Kill Chain methodology
Reconnaissance, exploitation & privilege escalation
Windows security assessment
Classical & symmetric ciphers, cryptanalysis

InfrastructureSystems & NetworkingWindows, Linux, Docker, Cisco

Windows Server: Active Directory & user accounts
Running my own Linux servers with Docker
Virtual machines & isolated lab networks (VMware)
Basic Cisco router, switch & VLAN setup
TCP/IP, DNS & DHCP
Least privilege & patching

IT SupportIT SupportTroubleshooting, Microsoft 365, docs

Hardware & software troubleshooting
Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams)
Technical documentation & LaTeX
Explaining technical problems in plain English

ToolsSecurity ToolkitWireshark, Nmap, Metasploit, Burp, Nessus

Wireshark & Nmap
Ghidra (reverse engineering)
Metasploit & Burp Suite
Nessus
Autopsy (digital forensics)
Kali Linux & Cisco Packet Tracer

DevelopmentProgrammingC++, basic Python, LLM integration

C++ (secure programming module)
Basic Python (cryptography module)
Browser extension with LLM integration

ProfessionalCommunication & DeliveryReports, presenting, project management

Penetration test & incident reports
Explaining technical risk to a non technical client
Client scoping interviews & presentations
c.16,000 word MSc & c.10,000 word BSc dissertations
Planning & Gantt charts, waterfall & iterative
Taking formal minutes

Leadership & Professionalism

Elected · 3 years

Course Representative

My cohort voted me in as course rep three years running, so I was the link between students and staff.

Sat on the Student Staff Course Liaison Group with the programme leader, course leader and lecturers
Raised my cohort's issues, from timetable errors to rooms changing mid class, and got actions agreed with staff
Took the formal minutes for the group, recording each decision and who owned the action

Committee Lead

Cyber Security Society

A small society run by a few of us on the committee. We met after hours in the university's cyber labs to work through labs and capture the flag (CTF) challenges together.

Helped get a student chapter of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, running alongside the society
Helped write the society's constitution
Later advised students from the 2024/25 cohort who wanted to start a society of their own

2025 · Mentor

Undergraduate Mentor & Assessor

I mentored a team of first year students through their professionalism assessment, then sat on the panel that assessed their presentations.

Helped the team work through problems within the group
Gave them detailed feedback on their work before they submitted
Invited onto the assessment panel to mark the presentations and give written feedback

Outside work

Creative

Photography

I studied photography at GCSE and A level, and my work was printed for a college open day. These days I shoot as a hobby, mostly close ups set up at home.

A selection of my favourites is at lumasphere.art

Automotive

Cars

I treat cars the same way I treat tech: do the research first, then the work.

Mechanics

I service my own cars to OE specification, using well researched OE equivalent parts fitted to the manufacturer's procedures.

Driving

I hold IAM Advanced and Masters certificates and am a graduate of the High Performance Course. Club members, friends and family trust me to drive their cars.

Detailing

I research paint correction and build the skills through practice on my own cars, including machine polishing, paint touch ups and close attention to detail.

Hi, I'm Alex.