Skip to content
View jkmagnussen's full-sized avatar
🏠
Working from home
🏠
Working from home

Block or report jkmagnussen

Report abuse

Contact GitHub support about this user’s behavior. Learn more about reporting abuse.

Report abuse
jkmagnussen/README.md

Joe Magnussen

Backend & Security Engineer β€’ MSc Computer Science Graduate


πŸ‘‹ About Me

I'm a backend & security engineer specialising in secure API design, authentication systems, and resilient backend architecture. I'm currently working on my MSc dissertation in Computer Science at the University of Liverpool, where I'm exploring the security trade-offs of modern API authentication models.

I enjoy building predictable, maintainable systems, digging into how things work under the hood, and designing solutions that balance performance, security, and developer experience.


πŸ”§ Core Technologies

Backend & APIs

Node.js TypeScript JavaScript Python Express PHP Laravel

Databases & ORM

PostgreSQL MySQL SQLite Prisma

Security & DevOps

Docker Git


πŸ” Current Focus

  • API authentication models (JWT, OAuth2, HMAC, API Keys, Sessions)
  • Threat modelling & API hardening
  • Secure backend architecture
  • Node.js + TypeScript service design
  • Python for tooling, automation, and analysis

πŸ“š Education

MSc Computer Science β€” University of Liverpool
Focus: Backend engineering, security, distributed systems
Dissertation: Evaluation of API Authentication Models and Their Security Trade-offs


🌐 Connect With Me


πŸ“ Featured Work

  • API Authentication Models Evaluation β€” A practical comparison of modern auth strategies, built in Node + TypeScript.
  • Backend Architecture Experiments β€” Exploring modular design, clean architecture, and service boundaries.
  • PostgreSQL Projects β€” Schema design, migrations, and backend integrations.

🎯 What I Care About

  • Secure-by-default backend design
  • Clean, maintainable architecture
  • Predictable systems
  • Good documentation
  • Continuous learning

Pinned Loading

  1. codecademy codecademy Public

    An aggregate of my studies through Codecademy.

    HTML

  2. Udacity Udacity Public

    An aggregate of my studies through Udacity.

    JavaScript

  3. udemy udemy Public

    An aggregate of my studies through Udemy.

    PHP

  4. mobile-flashcards mobile-flashcards Public

    A React Native mobile application (iOS) that allows users to study collections of flashcards. The app allows users to create different categories of flashcards called "decks", add flashcards to tho…

    JavaScript 4 1

  5. Would-You-Rather-Back-End Would-You-Rather-Back-End Public

    A Laravel, MySql backend to the "Would You Rather" React front end application. Supplemented with php slim and composer, comprised of a "database.php" abstraction layer for MySql queries and an "in…

    PHP

  6. Would-You-Rather-React-Redux-Project Would-You-Rather-React-Redux-Project Public

    Developed a would you rather app, exercising my ability to implement redux, the app lets a user play the β€œWould You Rather?” game. Within which the Redux store and reacts local state have been util…

    JavaScript