https://aliyousefi9403.github.io/Public log of my cybersecurity journey — TryHackMe, Security+, CS50, dissertation work. 2026-11-03T11:32:13+00:00 Ali Yousefi https://aliyousefi9403.github.io/ Jekyll © 2026 Ali Yousefi /assets/img/favicons/favicon.ico /assets/img/favicons/favicon-96x96.png 2026-11-02T09:00:00+00:00 2026-11-02T19:00:28+00:00 https://aliyousefi9403.github.io/posts/three-months-in-from-a-rag-demo-to-a-paper/ Ali Yousefi

The last post here was in early August, when the RAG pipeline had just started working end to end. I stopped writing because the project took over, so this is a catch-up. Over the next few posts I’ll go through each part in more detail. The short version AegisRAG is now a full experiment rather than a demo: a cybersecurity RAG system built from MITRE ATT&CK and CAPEC (18 documents, 20...

2026-08-03T08:00:00+01:00 2026-08-03T08:00:00+01:00 https://aliyousefi9403.github.io/posts/week-2-milestone-full-rag-pipeline/ Ali Yousefi

Milestone reached The core RAG pipeline is now running end-to-end: user question → semantic retrieval from Qdrant → generation with gpt-4o-mini → grounded response with cited sources. From “planned” to “working” in about a week. What went in this week Source-first knowledge-base builder Rather than hand-writing attack descriptions or asking an LLM to invent them, I built an extraction pipel...

2026-07-29T12:00:00+01:00 2026-07-29T12:49:17+01:00 https://aliyousefi9403.github.io/posts/week-1-building-the-baseline-rag/ Ali Yousefi

Progress since the last post The first meeting with my supervisor, Dr Nikos Komninos, is booked for later today (Wednesday, 29 July). Between the last post and now, I’ve moved the project from “planned” to “partially built”. What I built Project structure Set up a modular Python project on GitHub with clear separation of concerns: dissertation-RAG/ ├── backend/ │ └── app/ │ ├── ing...

2026-07-27T08:00:00+01:00 2026-07-27T20:33:49+01:00 https://aliyousefi9403.github.io/posts/week-1-choosing-a-dissertation-topic/ Ali Yousefi

Where I’m at Four days into my public cybersecurity log. Since the last post: TryHackMe: 8 rooms completed across the Complete Beginner and Cyber Security 101 paths. Security+ (SY0-701): 4 Prof Messer videos in. Slowed the pace so I can focus on the dissertation — exam target now November. Papers: worked through nine IEEE Xplore papers Dr Nikos Komninos (Senior Lecturer in Cyber Securi...

2026-07-25T20:00:00+01:00 2026-11-01T21:55:12+00:00 https://aliyousefi9403.github.io/posts/day-1-starting-my-cybersecurity-journey/ Ali Yousefi

I’m a Computer Science student at City St George’s, University of London, and I’m starting a public log of my cybersecurity learning. Why publicly? Two reasons. First, writing about something forces me to actually understand it — not just watch a video and move on. Second, I want a real record I can point to when I apply for MSc programmes and internships later this year. Where I’m starting ...