{"id":30,"date":"2020-04-27T21:28:42","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T21:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bslthemes.com\/ryancv\/?page_id=29"},"modified":"2026-07-05T23:46:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:46:27","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tigarsec.com\/portfolio\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Abdulhakeem<\/div>\n

Firmware Security Researcher \u00b7 Blue Team Engineer \u00b7 PhD Candidate<\/p>\n

Abdulhakeem Ekun<\/h1>\n

Building AI-augmented firmware security analysis pipelines. Ranked #4 in the UK on Blue Team Labs Online. PhD researcher at the University of Wolverhampton. IT Lecturer at Dudley College of Technology.<\/p>\n

Read Walkthroughs<\/a>
\nConnect on LinkedIn<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n

Competitive Rankings<\/h2>\n
\n
#4<\/span>
\nUnited Kingdom<\/span>
\nBTLO \u2014 Blue Team Labs Online<\/span><\/div>\n
#65<\/span>
\nGlobal<\/span>
\nBTLO \u2014 Blue Team Labs Online<\/span><\/div>\n
#3<\/span>
\nDecember 2024 Competition<\/span>
\nFrostByte \u2014 Security Blue Team<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n
\n

About Me<\/h2>\n

I am a PhD researcher at the University of Wolverhampton investigating AI-augmented firmware security for Linux-based embedded devices \u2014 specifically how automated analysis pipelines bridge the gap between detecting vulnerabilities and validating real security impact.<\/p>\n

My background combines hands-on blue team operations with firmware security research. I also teach T-Level Computing at Dudley College of Technology, building practical cyber range environments for student education.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\nLocation<\/strong>
\nWolverhampton, UK<\/p>\n

Status<\/strong>
\nOpen to internships & collaborations<\/p>\n

Institution<\/strong>
\nUniversity of Wolverhampton<\/p>\n

MBCS<\/strong>
\nMember, BCS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

\n
\n
\nCore Technical Areas<\/span><\/p>\n

Technical Skills<\/h2>\n

Practical skills across firmware analysis, blue team operations, security monitoring, and research tooling.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Firmware & Research<\/h3>\n
\nFirmware Analysis<\/span>
\nBinwalk \/ EMBA<\/span>
\nFIRMADYNE \/ FirmAE<\/span>
\nStatic Analysis<\/span>
\nDynamic Analysis<\/span>
\nFuzzing<\/span>
\nExploit Validation<\/span>
\nBinary Analysis<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Blue Team & SOC<\/h3>\n
\nElastic Stack<\/span>
\nWazuh \/ Sysmon<\/span>
\nDFIR<\/span>
\nThreat Hunting<\/span>
\nSOC Operations<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Engineering & Tooling<\/h3>\n
\nPython<\/span>
\nDocker<\/span>
\nLinux<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n
\nSelected Work<\/span><\/p>\n

Projects<\/h2>\n

Practical cybersecurity and research projects demonstrating hands-on engineering, blue team operations, firmware security, and education-focused security tooling.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\nBlue Team Lab<\/span><\/p>\n

Portable College Cyber Range<\/h3>\n

A Docker-based cyber range and CTF environment designed for students, including scoreboard workflows, practical challenges, and classroom-ready deployment.<\/p>\n

\nCTFd<\/span>
\nDocker<\/span>
\nLinux<\/span>
\nEducation<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Read More<\/a>
\nGitHub<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nAwareness Training<\/span><\/p>\n

Staff Cybersecurity Awareness App<\/h3>\n

A local phishing and QR-code awareness challenge for staff training, designed around safe hands-on learning rather than passive slides.<\/p>\n

\nPhishing<\/span>
\nQR Challenge<\/span>
\nFlask<\/span>
\nTraining<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Read More<\/a>
\nGitHub<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nBlue Team Operations<\/span><\/p>\n

SOCaaS For SMEs<\/h3>\n

A practical Security Operations Centre as a Service project designed to help small and medium-sized organisations improve security visibility, threat detection, alert triage, and incident-response readiness without requiring an enterprise-scale SOC.<\/p>\n

\nSOC Operations<\/span>
\nSIEM<\/span>
\nThreat Detection<\/span>
\nIncident Response<\/span>
\nSME Security<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Read More<\/a>
\nGitHub<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n


\n\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

\n
\nAcademic Background<\/span><\/p>\n

Education<\/h2>\n

Formal academic and teaching qualifications supporting my work in cybersecurity research, computing education, and technical training.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\nPhD<\/span><\/p>\n

PhD in Cybersecurity<\/h3>\n

University of Wolverhampton
\nIn view \u00b7 AI-Augmented Firmware Security<\/small>\n<\/div>\n

\nMSc<\/span><\/p>\n

Master\u2019s Degree<\/h3>\n

University of Wolverhampton
\nPhishing Detection using NLP & SVM \/ 2023<\/small>\n<\/div>\n

\nMSc<\/span><\/p>\n

Master\u2019s Degree<\/h3>\n

Kwara State University
\nCryptography \/ 2021<\/small>\n<\/div>\n

\nBSc<\/span><\/p>\n

Bachelor\u2019s Degree<\/h3>\n

Al-Hikmah University
\nComputer Science \/ 2017<\/small>\n<\/div>\n

\nL3<\/span><\/p>\n

BTEC Level 3 in Education and Training<\/h3>\n

Pearson \/ Dudley College of Technology
\nTeaching and training qualification \/ 2025<\/small>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

\n
\nCredentials<\/span><\/p>\n

Certifications<\/h2>\n

Security certifications and professional credentials supporting my blue team and cybersecurity research profile.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n\"BTL1\"<\/p>\n

Blue Team Level 1<\/h3>\n

Security Blue Team \u00b7 2025\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\"CompTIA<\/p>\n

Security+<\/h3>\n

CompTIA \u00b7 2024\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\"CompTIA<\/p>\n

Network+<\/h3>\n

CompTIA \u00b7 2024\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\"CompTIA<\/p>\n

A+<\/h3>\n

CompTIA \u00b7 2024\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\"ISC2<\/p>\n

CC<\/h3>\n

ISC2 \u00b7 2023\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

\n
\nPhD Research \u00b7 Under Review<\/span><\/p>\n

AI-Augmented Firmware Security<\/h2>\n

My current research presents a comprehensive review of AI-augmented firmware security for Linux-based embedded devices, with emphasis on vulnerability detection and exploit validation. The work covers firmware acquisition, static analysis, dynamic analysis, emulation, fuzzing, and the emerging role of AI in supporting security analysis at scale.<\/p>\n

University of Wolverhampton \u00b7 School of Mathematics and Computer Science<\/p>\n

\nFirmware Security<\/span>
\nEmbedded Devices<\/span>
\nVulnerability Detection<\/span>
\nExploit Validation<\/span>
\nAI \/ ML<\/span>
\nLinux Firmware<\/span>
\nFuzzing<\/span>
\nRehosting<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n

Get in Touch<\/h2>\n

Open to security engineering internships, research collaborations, and firmware security projects \u2014 remote or UK-based.<\/p>\n

Email Me<\/a>
\nLinkedIn<\/a>
\nBTLO Profile<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Firmware Security Researcher \u00b7 Blue Team Engineer \u00b7 PhD Candidate Abdulhakeem Ekun Building AI-augmented firmware security analysis pipelines. Ranked #4 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-30","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigarsec.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigarsec.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigarsec.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigarsec.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigarsec.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/tigarsec.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1179,"href":"https:\/\/tigarsec.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30\/revisions\/1179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigarsec.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}