Abdel Rahman's Personal Website

I'm someone who's always been passionate about computers, software, and cybersecurity. Whether it's diving into code, exploring the latest tech trends, or securing systems from threats, I love the challenge and creativity that come with working in the digital world. This space is where I share what I’m learning, building, and exploring, so feel free to look around, connect, or reach out!

Work Experience

Senior Cybersecurity Engineer
January 2022 - Present
Al Dammam Development Company, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Deployed and configured firewalls, IDS/IPS, XDR, IAM, and SIEM solutions, including Palo Alto NGFW, nftables, Wazuh, and Suricata, improving threat visibility by 80%. Integrated DevSecOps practices into GitLab CI/CD pipelines using SAST, DAST, and scanning tools such as SonarQube, OWASP ZAP, Snyk, Trivy, and GitLeaks, reducing post-deployment vulnerabilities by 70%. Enforced Zero Trust architecture through RBAC, MFA, IAM, and network segmentation to limit lateral movement and strengthen overall security. Conducted penetration testing with Burp Suite, Nessus, Nmap, and Metasploit, identifying and remediating critical vulnerabilities while delivering actionable reports and prioritized remediation to accelerate resolution. Managed hybrid Windows and Linux systems with secure configurations, permissions, and updates. Automated hardening, patching, and deployments using Ansible and Jenkins to ensure consistency and efficiency across environments. Monitored and correlated logs, created custom detection rules, and led incident response through Wazuh SIEM to enhance accuracy and response speed. Delivered cybersecurity and phishing-awareness training to reduce user-driven incidents and deployed the ELK Stack for centralized log analytics and performance monitoring across infrastructure and CI/CD pipelines.
Senior Software Engineer
July 2021 - Present
Al Dammam Development Company, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Led development of internal tools to streamline employee workflows, increasing productivity by 25%. Collaborated with stakeholders to gather requirements, incorporate feedback, and prioritize high-impact features. Built and maintained CI/CD pipelines using modern DevOps practices, boosting deployment speed by 75% and reducing manual workload. Maintained high code quality through testing, code reviews, and continuous refactoring aligned with engineering best practices.
Software Engineering Internship — React Native
July 2020 - August 2020
Triosuite Company, Amman, Jordan
Developed a 20-screen React Native mobile app end-to-end within 8 weeks, showcasing strong technical autonomy and rapid delivery.
Full Stack Web Development Internship
July 2019 - August 2019
Triosuite Company, Amman, Jordan
Built a mobile app using AngularJS and Ionic, optimizing screen performance and improving load times. Worked closely with SQL Server to enhance backend support for business features.

Part-Time & Freelance Work

Game Development Content Creator (Part-Time)
July 2021 - Present
Remote — Sillys on Youtube
- Built a cross-platform community of over 50,000 followers by producing engaging and educational content on game development.
- Leveraged Unity for prototyping and game creation, Blender for 3D modeling and animation, and After Effects for high-quality video editing and motion graphics.
- Produced long-form edutainment videos that blended storytelling with technical insights to appeal to both casual viewers and aspiring developers.
- Designed and published short-form animated videos, simplifying complex game development topics into accessible visual content.
View Youtube Channel Linktree of All Social Accounts

Education

Master of Science, Cybersecurity
January 2023 - August 2024
Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, United States
Grade: Excellent, Honors
Software Engineer
August 2017 - June 2021
Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Grade: Excellent, First Honors, Dean's List
Excellence Scholarship: Awarded 85% tuition coverage for academic excellence.

Languages

AR
Arabic - Native
I AM A NATIVE ARABIC SPEAKER, AND CAN FLUENTLY SPEAK, READ, AND WRITE IN ARABIC.
EN
English - Advanced (C1+)
I have used English professionally for years in cybersecurity and software engineering roles.
I also completed both my Bachelor's and Master's degrees entirely in English.
DE
German - Beginner (A2-B1)
CURRENTLY, I AM LEARNING GERMAN TO IMPROVE MY COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND BROADEN MY LANGUAGE ABILITIES.

Enterprise Cybersecurity & DevSecOps Environment
Aug 2025 - Oct 2025
Designed and implemented a multi-phase enterprise-grade cybersecurity and DevSecOps lab to simulate real-world security architecture.
- Built segmented enterprise network architecture (External, DMZ, Internal) with VirtualBox, deploying firewall and secure routing rules.
- Developed a Next.js web application with a MySQL database, secured via Keycloak IAM with RBAC and reverse-proxy TLS in the DMZ.
- Implemented centralized endpoint detection and monitoring using Wazuh XDR SIEM, integrating agents, IPTables logs, and custom alert rules for comprehensive threat visibility.
- Simulated cyberattacks using Kali Linux to validate detection, alerting, and monitoring workflows across SIEM dashboards.
- Developed custom alerts, mapped detection rules to MITRE ATT&CK, and automated response scripts to strengthen detection and response workflows.
- Implemented Blue-Green Deployment Strategy to achieve near-zero downtime releases and enable instant rollback.
- Integrated GitLab CI/CD with automated security gates using GitLeaks, SonarQube (SAST), OWASP ZAP (DAST), dependency scanning, and secret detection to ensure secure and compliant builds and deployments.
- Configured ELK Stack (Elasticsearch + Kibana) for operational observability, collecting application and CI pipeline logs to visualize latency, error trends, and release health.
- Established release validation workflows using ELK dashboards and alert triggers to ensure quick issue identification and rollback after each deployment.
Tech Stack: Wazuh XDR SIEM, ELK Stack (Elasticsearch & Kibana), GitLab CE, SonarQube, Gitleaks, Vitest, Playwright, Keycloak IAM, iptables Firewall, Kali Linux, VirtualBox, Next.js, MySQL
GitHub Repo
Chat App with Keycloak IAM
Aug 2025 - Oct 2025
A lightweight chat application demonstrating secure authentication, RBAC, and IAM integration with OAuth2/OpenID Connect following modern security best practices.
- Built the web app with Next.js, secured by Keycloak IAM for authentication and role-based access control (RBAC).
- Implemented JWT-based authorization and permission checks for multiple roles.
- Deployed with MySQL (Docker) and included secure database seeding with secrets.
- Hardened app against SQL injection, XSS, and CSRF using prepared statements, input validation, and Next.js protections.
Tech Stack: Next.js, Node.js, Keycloak IAM, OAuth2, OpenID Connect, JWT, MySQL, Docker
GitHub Repo
Personal Website (This Website)
Jul 2025 - Present
Built a fully responsive portfolio to showcase my technical skills and projects. It supports dark/light mode and is optimized for fast, reliable performance across devices.
- Deployed on Vercel with seamless CI/CD
- Implemented a clean UI with custom theming and reusable components
Tech Stack: Next.js, React, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, Tailwind CSS, Node.js
Online Video Downloader
Mar 2025 - Jul 2025
Created a full-stack web app that enables users to download YouTube videos using yt-dlp, with a focus on performance, scalability, and a smooth user experience.
- Built a dynamic, responsive frontend using Next.js, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS
- Developed a high-performance backend with FastAPI, supporting both HTTP and WebSocket connections
- Implemented Redis queues and Celery workers for efficient asynchronous task processing
- Dockerized the entire system using Docker Compose and custom Dockerfiles for each service (frontend, backend, Redis, Celery workers) to enable clean, multi-container orchestration
- Ensured scalable configuration through environment variables and support for multiple parallel workers
Tech Stack: Docker, Next.js, FastAPI, Redis, Celery, Python, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, yt-dlp
GitHub Repo
Backrooms Online Game
Sep 2022 – May 2025
Developed a multiplayer horror game inspired by the Backrooms, built entirely in Unity with custom assets and networked gameplay. The project was also shared through an Arabic-language devlog combining development insights with entertainment.
- Designed and implemented core gameplay, level design, 3D models, textures, and portion of the animations
- Built multiplayer logic using Unity’s Netcode for GameObjects
- Optimized for mobile performance, including UI scaling and frame rate management
- Produced a developer vlog in Arabic to explain design decisions, challenges, and technical problem-solving
Tech Stack: Unity, Netcode for GameObjects (Unity's Networking System), C#, Blender
Arabic Video Showcase
DevOps Pipelines — MSc Coursework
Jul 2024 – Aug 2024
Built and deployed multiple DevOps pipelines in a collaborative project, focusing on automation, security, and continuous integration.
- Provisioned a secure VPS on DigitalOcean, configured SSH key authentication, and set up firewall rules to restrict external access
- Automated deployments using Docker Compose, Jenkins, Python, and Bash scripts
- Integrated vulnerability scanning with Snyk and GitLab CI
- Implemented static code analysis (SAST) using SonarQube
- Configured HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt, validating a custom domain and issuing TLS certificates
- Hosted a private Docker image registry on GitLab to store and scan container images securely
Tech Stack: Docker, Jenkins, GitLab, Python, Bash, Snyk, SonarQube, Digital Ocean
Network Traffic Analysis Tool — MSc Coursework
Oct 2023 – Dec 2023
Developed a Python-based analysis tool to detect port scans and ARP cache poisoning from network log files, enhancing visibility into low-level network threats.
- Parsed and analyzed traffic using Tshark and custom Python scripts
- Flagged anomalous patterns indicating scanning behavior and spoofed ARP replies
Tech Stack: Python, Tshark, Wireshark
Python Disassembler — MSc Coursework
Oct 2023 – Nov 2023
Built a Python-based disassembler that converts machine code into Intel-style x86 assembly, designed to support reverse engineering and low-level debugging workflows.
- Supports 30+ instructions, including arithmetic, logic, and control flow operations
- Facilitates binary inspection and instruction-level analysis for security and debugging use cases
Tech Stack: Python, NASM (Assembler), Intel x86
Room Object Scanner — Capstone Project
Sep 2020 – May 2021
Developed a Unity-based VR tool that scans real-world objects into 3D models using photogrammetry, enabling immersive and interactive visualization.
- Led the development team and designed the overall system architecture
- Implemented the backend in Python, handling image processing and data flow
- Integrated with the Unity frontend via C# sockets and multi-threaded communication
Tech Stack: Unity, C#, Python
Multiplayer Networked Game — Coursework
Oct 2020 – Nov 2020
Designed and implemented a multiplayer game using Java sockets and multithreading, with a focus on real-time synchronization and low-level networking.
- Built a custom application-layer protocol to manage player state and communication
- Implemented game logic synchronization to ensure consistent gameplay across clients
- Used LibGDX for game development, graphics rendering, and input handling
Tech Stack: Java, Network Sockets, Multithreading, libGDX
GitHub Repo