Rayes Diyab

Building software by understanding how it works

I am finishing a BSc in Computer Science at the University of Basel — 174 of 180 ECTS, with the degree planned for February 2027 — and I am ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC). I build software and open-source projects across modern web development and lower-level systems work. My interests include reverse engineering, binary analysis, application security, secure backend development, networking and understanding undocumented software behavior.

I work with JavaScript and TypeScript, Python, Java, C++, SQL and Bash; on the backend with Node.js, Express, PostgreSQL, PostGIS, Redis and Socket.io; and on the systems side with Linux, Windows PE and x86 assembly.

Backend engineering

I am co-founder and lead developer of e-Motion, a Swiss ride-hailing platform. I designed and built its backend as nine modules — Auth, Users, Drivers, Rides, Payments, Commission, Charity, Notifications and Admin — with real-time ride state over Socket.io, geospatial matching on PostgreSQL and PostGIS, and payments through Stripe Connect with authorization up front and capture at the end of the ride. It carries over 550 automated unit and integration tests, and Privacy by Design and the Swiss regulatory requirements — nFADP, GeBüV and GwG/AMLA — were part of the design from the start rather than bolted on.

Reverse engineering & open source

My featured open-source project is KMRP — KOTOR Modern Restoration Patch, an engine-level restoration and widescreen project for the 2003 PC release of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. It required reverse engineering swkotor.exe to find hardcoded UI, rendering and engine behavior, then binary patches, custom x86 code and additional PE code sections to fix it — across 48 resolutions up to 15360×8640. The project documents the reverse-engineering process as well as the resulting fixes, and is published on GitHub, Nexus Mods and Deadly Stream.

Cybersecurity

I am especially interested in the overlap between cybersecurity and software engineering: reverse engineering, executable analysis, application security, authentication and authorization, access control, webhook verification, Linux, networking and secure API design.

Working with people

I served in the Swiss Army from 2019 to 2020 as a Wachtmeister and medic in Ticino, leading and training a group of more than 20 people and carrying responsibility for triage and medical safety in demanding situations. I speak German and Arabic natively, English at C2 and French at A2.