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When Joel Astley signed up to study Software Development at Blackburn College, part of the Lancashire & Cumbria Institute of Technology, he already had a hobby that set him apart: reverse engineering software to find out how it really works.
The course has given him the equipment and the challenge to take that curiosity somewhere, as he chose an internet-connected smart door lock and found a security flaw in it.
The course has given Joel hands-on experience across a range of disciplines.
“We have web design and development which is for creating websites, designing the user interface and also setting websites up on the back end,” he explains.
Alongside this, modules in advanced programming concepts and project management have helped Joel develop both technical ability and team working skills.
However, his research project has truly captured his imagination, with Joel choosing to investigate the security of an internet-connected smart door lock.
“I was curious on whether or not it would be a good idea to have physical security connected to the Internet,” he says.
“You hear about routers getting hacked all the time.”
Probing the device revealed a genuine vulnerability in the software layer – one Joel has documented and submitted to a bug bounty programme.
“It shows that I’ve looked into things, I understand them, and the nature of the vulnerability is that it requires a bit of creative intuition to see how you could abuse it. It also shows that I can think outside of the box.”
Joel also represented Blackburn College at The Lancashire Colleges IoT Skills Competition, competing against teams from colleges across the region. The tasks tested everything from analysing sensor data to designing game interfaces and completing a cyber security forensics challenge.
The team finished third, and Joel received an individual commendation for his leadership skills.
“I helped centralise all of the activities – you need someone in the middle that can help manage it all. I’m more prepared for this sort of role because of what I have learned on my course” Joel says.
Joel also values the teaching environment at Blackburn College: “The tutors have been excellent – they know what they’re talking about and they’re supportive of my work. You’ve also got your classmates to help you.”
Beyond the technical skills, Joel sees the relationships built during the course as a real career asset. He notes that in software development, who you know can be just as important as what you know.
With a bug bounty submission on his CV and a growing range of technical skills, Joel is well placed for a career in software development or cyber security.
He is keeping his options open: “Programming is quite a wide subject. I could end up embedded systems or working in performance-critical applications – I’ve got a lot of opportunities.”
