Kostas Injeyan - October 2025 Featured Member

Welcome to our Featured Members Series. This month we are spotlighting Kostas Injeyan, who has been an amazing contributor to the DevCentral Community.

DevCentral: To start, please introduce yourself and tell our community a little bit about you. What you do and why is it important?

Kostas: Hello everyone! I'm Kostas Injeyan, an ordinary IT guy living in Greece who's been wrestling

with the technology mess for the past 20 years. My journey started humbly in a small computer shop, assembling custom PCs and installing Windows XP, some with more "creative" licensing than others (I probably shouldn't admit that, but I think the statute of limitations has expired by now!). From there, I progressed through Systems and Networking, then into Network Security, and eventually found myself deep in the Layer 7 madness. Today, I help companies keep their infrastructures secure, a challenge that has become increasingly complex with evolving threats, cloud adoption, AI-driven attacks and sophisticated attack vectors. What matters most is that the work we do protects not just data and systems, but the trust and operations that organizations depend on. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with friends and family, love the sea, and recently started taking sailing lessons.

DevCentral: As a Principal Network Security Engineer at Netcompany, while supporting EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency). What is your typical workday like?

Kostas: The best part of my role is that no two days are identical. My mornings typically start with back to back meetings, architectural reviews, security assessments, or strategic planning sessions. From there, I shift between designing and implementing new security projects, supporting presales initiatives, and running POCs for emerging technologies. When critical issues arise, I provide L3 support to untangle complex problems. But what I value most is carving out time to mentor colleagues and exchanging ideas over coffee. The variety keeps me sharp, and the collaboration keeps me grounded. It's a dynamic mix of strategic thinking, hands on problem solving, and knowledge sharing.

DevCentral: Can you give us a glimpse into your technical expertise?

Kostas: Throughout my career, I've developed a broad IT foundation spanning Windows and Linux server administration, CCTV systems, PBX deployments, advanced routing and switching, and enterprise firewalling. However, my true expertise lies in the F5 ecosystem. I'm proficient across LTM, Adv. WAF, DNS, and XC, but APM and iRules hold a special place in my heart. Why? Because they're where technical precision meets creativity. APM is the most customizable module in the F5 portfolio, allowing you to architect elegant authentication flows and access control solutions as unique as the business requirements they serve. iRules complement this perfectly, they're your secret weapon when you need to manipulate traffic in ways the GUI can't handle, solve edge cases that don't fit standard patterns, or transform a client's "Can F5 do this?" into "Here's exactly how we'll make it work." Together, APM and iRules turn complex identity and access challenges into opportunities for innovative problem solving. And because of my deep work with APM, I've also developed strong expertise in IAM systems and both modern and legacy authentication methods, everything from SAML and OAuth to older protocols that refuse to retire gracefully.

DevCentral: What is a customer challenge that you have encountered and how did community help you resolve? (Does not have to be the DevCentral Community)

Kostas: One particularly challenging scenario involved implementing a sophisticated APM authentication flow with IDP chaining, MFA and dynamic conditional access based on complex user attributes and group memberships. The official documentation provided the foundation, but my requirements were far more nuanced. I turned to DevCentral and Matt_Dierick’s videos. Rather than finding a single perfect solution, I found multiple pieces of the puzzle. I extracted the logic from different approaches, understood the underlying principles, and synthesized them into a custom solution tailored to my specific use case. That experience crystallized an important lesson, community’s true value isn't in copy-paste solutions, it's in the collective wisdom that helps you think differently and build better.

DevCentral: Do you have any F5 Certifications? If so, how have they helped in your career?

Kostas: I've accumulated quite a few industry certifications throughout my career, but there are two I'm most proud of, the F5 401 certification which I hold since 2021, and my CISSP. Here's my honest perspective, a certificate alone doesn't make you an expert, but achieving these levels of certification demonstrates a serious commitment to understanding the technology and security principles deeply. Did they help my career? Absolutely, but not in the way most people think. The real value wasn't the badges themselves, it was the rigorous learning process that forced me to explore corners of the platforms and security frameworks I might never have encountered otherwise. These certifications built confidence in my expertise, validated my knowledge to clients and employers, and yes, they make for nice LinkedIn badges. But more importantly, they established a baseline of competency that opens doors and creates opportunities for deeper technical conversations with peers and clients alike.

DevCentral: What drew you into the DevCentral Community and what keeps you engaged?

Kostas: I first discovered DevCentral in 2018 when I was introduced to F5 technology. Initially, I was purely a consumer, visiting regularly to solve problems, gather ideas, and adapt solutions to my needs. I was comfortable being invisible, learning from others without contributing. That changed last May, when I attended AppWorld Berlin and watched Juergen_Mang receive the "Channel Technical Star of the Year" award. I'll be honest, I was envious, in a good way. I would like that kind of recognition too. But there's no local F5 office in Greece, so traditional channels seemed closed to me. I followed Juergen on LinkedIn, and as I got to know his work, I realized not only that he’s a really smart guy, but that he was also a DevCentral MVP. That's when it clicked, I could also contribute meaningfully to this community. So, I started participating actively, answering questions, sharing knowledge, and engaging authentically. Will I also become an MVP? I don't know. But what I've discovered is something better, the genuine satisfaction of helping others solve complex problems and contributing to a community that gave me so much. That's what keeps me coming back daily.

DevCentral: Can you share with the community a time a mishap occurred and what you did to rectify it?

Kostas: Oh, I have a catalog of mishaps, some my fault, some not. But one stands out as particularly humbling. I was upgrading an F5 appliance that required relicensing. Confident and perhaps too rushed, I went through the manual process: extracted the dossier, submitted it for the new license, and then made a catastrophic mistake. Instead of pasting the actual license file, I accidentally pasted the acknowledgment text and hit enter. The entire system went down immediately. Here's where it gets worse, this was a standalone node that also served as the company's internet gateway. No internet for the entire organization, during a maintenance window, yes, but now I had no remote access to fix it. In a moment of creative desperation, I called the onsite technician and walked him through creating a backdoor connection using his mobile phone's hotspot. Once connected, I restored the system and brought everything back online. Lesson learned, overconfidence and haste are a dangerous combination.

DevCentral: How do you manage work life balance while maintaining your connection with our community?

Kostas: I'll be brutally honest, I don't currently have work life balance in the traditional sense. Last year, I made the decision to pursue my bachelor's degree, something I'd abandoned in my twenties. Juggling a demanding career with university coursework leaves little breathing room. I'm fortunate to have an incredibly supportive wife who manages our household and makes this possible. As for DevCentral, I've integrated it into my daily routine rather than treating it as an extra obligation. I check in at least once daily, sometimes looking for solutions to my own challenges, other times helping someone else with a problem I've encountered before. It's become part of how I stay current and connected to the broader F5 community. Once I complete my degree, I'm looking forward to reclaiming some balance, but for now, it's a season of intense focus and sacrifice.

DevCentral: What are your current career and life goals?

Kostas: Professionally, I'm focused on two parallel tracks, continuing to build secure, cloud-ready infrastructures for critical organizations like EASA, while simultaneously helping strengthen Netcompany’s position as a premier F5 Partner, not just in Greece, but across Europe. Personally, my goals are simpler but equally important. My dream is to travel extensively with my wife and daughter, experiencing different cultures, cuisines, and landscapes. Life is short, and I want to collect memories, not just credentials.

DevCentral: If you weren't in your current profession what would be your dream job?

Kostas: This might surprise people, but I actually lived my childhood dream before IT became my primary career. As a kid, I wanted to be either a footballer or an actor. I had zero talent for football, but acting? I actually made it. I became a professional actor and landed a main role in one of Greece's most beloved comedy shows of all time. For a while, I was living the dream, performing, making people laugh, being part of something creative. Then the Greek economic crisis hit, and the entertainment industry collapsed almost overnight. Suddenly, the dream didn't pay bills. Fortunately, I'd been working in IT in parallel, so I pivoted to something more stable. Do I miss it? Sometimes. But IT has given me stability, intellectual challenges, and the ability to support my family. And honestly, there's a creative element to network security and F5 configurations that scratches a similar itch.

DevCentral: What's at the top of your playlist?

Kostas: Greek rock and pop music dominate my playlist. But I also have a deep appreciation for classical music, especially when I need to focus or decompress after a challenging day.

DevCentral: Lastly, what inspires you?

Kostas: Inspiration comes from many sources for me. There's something profound about staring at the endless sea, it reminds me of how vast the world is and how much there is still to learn. I'm inspired by collaborating with brilliant people who challenge my thinking and push me to grow. Watching my daughter discover the world with fresh eyes. And sometimes, it's as simple as a good film that tells a compelling story.