Nektarios Sakaroglou

Hi Nek, so what’s your role and what does that involve?

Well, I’m the IT manager at CMCS and that involves managing a lot of day-to-day operations – anything from projects, liaising with customers, organising the team, to maintaining the IT systems that keep the lights on here.

Great! And what’s your career background?

I grew up in Greece and before I came to the UK I was working there in IT in the university and government sectors, doing software development and day-to-day IT support. Then I joined CMCS in 2019, in a different IT position to the one I’m in now.

When I interviewed Ben Croot he was talking about how you used to be an ethical hacker for CMCS – is that right?

Yes, I used to be an ethical hacker here. Growing up I liked testing my skills and liked a good challenge. I did silly things when I was young – I used to write code for fun and test it in my own environment. I never did anything crazy, but I did raise one thing to a vendor that’s still in operation as a file hosting service. Browsing through the system, I noticed that I could change my subscription price to zero, so anyone could get their product for free if they knew where to look. I emailed them, told them how to fix it, and they replied saying I’d broken the terms of service and suspended my account!

Anyway, CMCS were exploring the idea of a pen testing service, so I volunteered and took the certificate. It was a lengthy process, with lots of studying and access to a virtual lab for three months. I learned how to break into networks and identity vulnerabilities. For the test you have one day to complete the objective of gaining full access to a network and infrastructure, and thankfully I was successful.

What makes a good ‘ethical hacker’?

You have to be someone that always keeps up to date and does their research. The moment you stop, the industry moves so fast that you’d be out of date in a matter of days. You need to be open with the customer and deliver as much detail as you can on the job. But obviously the most critical thing is to not break their production.

Is that different now you’re an IT manager or is there a lot of crossover?

I’d say it’s almost the same thing, but my new role requires more people skills.  You need to try to understand your staff and work as a team and you need them to trust you and to come to you when they need support. IT can be stressful, so you’ve got to manage the workload and not burn staff out. I used to manage a department of 10 people in Greece – it was in a government department, so everything was really slow. We had projects that took three years to complete, which is a different kind of stress.

I bet you get asked to help out with a lot of friends and family IT problems?

Yes, I get asked to help with IT problems all the time. A lot of people think they’ve been ‘hacked’ when something’s wrong. But really, it’s just been compromised by human error. The best thing people can do is keep your operating system up to date – the best protection is yourself.

Now that you’re the IT manager at CMCS, what are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a couple of different projects for our clients. One is working on a full colour printing solution for one of our BAU customers, as well as a hybrid mail project for another. I’m also involved in a lot of testing to make sure applications are working. A lot of people think we’re just sat there waiting for a disaster recovery invocation, but we like to call CMCS a ‘warm site’ because we have BAU customers too. We’re currently working on a few really good opportunities for CMCS .

Anyway I think that’s enough work questions. What did you have for tea last night?

I had a Domino’s Texas BBQ pizza, and it was great. There’s a Domino’s five minutes’ walk from my house so it’s very easy to just go there. I live on takeaway unfortunately. I value my time and I like good food, and I don’t want to set my house on fire. I can cook, but I just prefer the easy way out.  

Hey that’s fair enough. Where’s your favourite place you’ve ever been?

Hmmm I will probably say somewhere in Greece, probably Corfu. It’s a lovely island, I spent three weeks there visiting a friend once, and then then I’ve fallen in love with the place. Great people, great food. What’s not to like?

As someone who grew up in the Midlands, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the area.

I like it here! It can be a bit quiet, and it’s definitely different from London, but there’s still lots to do and the location means it’s easy to travel to other parts of the UK from here. I came to the UK because I wanted a better future – the economic situation in Greece is very difficult and there aren’t many good IT jobs available, considering the amount of study and qualifications required. And I’m used to the English weather by now. When I went back home to see friends and family, I was boiling!

Great! Do you have a favourite word?

It’s not a word but I like the phrase “Make it so”, from Star Trek. I like anything fantasy or Sci Fi. Gives you a view of how things could be. It’s a good way to start an argument, because people have an opinion on Star Trek, whether they love it or hate it.

How about a word you don’t like?

“Unreachable”, primarily because if you’re determined enough, everything can be achieved with enough time and effort.

Which three people would you invite to a fantasy dinner party?

One would be Jeff Bezos, because why not? He’s the richest man in the world and would be interesting to speak to. Another would be Gordon Ramsay so he can do the cooking. Third would be a scientist called Thomas Midgeley, who unknowingly had a big impact on the world. He developed leaded petrol and CFCs, which are both incredibly bad for the environment. So I’d like to speak to him – he advanced society by inventing freon and other stuff like that, so I’d like to get his view on the side effects. It wasn’t until years after he died that the scientific community realised.

Do you have any irrational phobias?

No, not really. I don’t recall having any, anyway. When I was younger, it was spiders, mainly because when I was small they seemed really huge.

What’s something outside work that you’re good at?

I’m a gamer, so I play a lot of games in my free time. I’m not really an outdoors person. I used to play Counterstrike and was rated ‘global elite’, but that’s a few years ago now. I’m currently playing a lot of Elden Ring at the moment – I play online with a team of my friends.

How about something you’re bad at?

Going to the gym. I need to convince myself to go more often. It takes a lot of effort to get me out of my chair! It’s hard to switch off, especially after Covid and working remotely. Before, you’d leave the office and that was it, but now you’re working from home it’s different. Personally, I check my work emails all the time – it’s good because it eases the workload a bit if I see an email early. But achieving that work/life balance is hard and I’m trying to work it out.

What superpower?

Teleportation. I’d probably go to see friends in Greece and possibly use it to teleport stuff to space, to provide supplies to people who need it.

Spoken like a true Star Trek fan! What’s your proudest achievement?

I would say making the decision to move to another country. It’s a hard thing to do, but managing to be where I am today takes a lot of effort. If you are willing, there’s nothing you can’t do. I think I’m here in the UK forever now – I love the country, and it’s a lovely place to be.

That’s brilliant, thanks Nek!