Fired from Company, Siblings Immediately Delete National Database in a Matter of Minutes

KOMPAS.com - Two twin brothers in the United States, Muneeb Akhter and Sohaib Akhter, have been charged after deleting approximately 96 databases containing federal government information just minutes after being fired from their company.

The case has garnered attention as the two brothers were known to work for a government contractor that handled data for dozens of US federal agencies. Ironically, both had prior cybercrime convictions before being hired.

According to federal court documents, the company where these siblings worked was based in Washington DC and served more than 45 US government agencies. The company was later identified as Opexus.

The two brothers had previously pleaded guilty in 2015 for hacking websites, stealing credit card data, and attempting to sell personal information on the darknet.

In another case, Sohaib was also accused of stealing data from a colleague while working at the US State Department and installing hardware to secretly monitor government systems.

Despite their criminal records, both managed to re-enter the technology industry after serving prison sentences. Muneeb started working for the contractor company in 2023, while Sohaib followed a year later.

However, according to the US government, they committed further violations while still employed.

Sohaib then queried the EEOC database and provided the password to Muneeb, who then used it to access victims’ emails without authorization.

The investigation also revealed that Muneeb had collected approximately 5,400 usernames and passwords from the internal network of the company where he worked. He then created several Python scripts to try these login combinations on various popular services.

One of the scripts, named “marriott_checker.py,” was used to test logins to the Marriott hotel network.

Muneeb reportedly gained access to hundreds of accounts, including DocuSign and airline accounts. In some cases, he used the victims’ flight points for travel.

The company finally discovered their criminal past in February 2025. On February 18, Muneeb and Sohaib, who lived together in Virginia, were called to an online meeting via Microsoft Teams. Both were immediately fired by the company.

The meeting ended around 4:50 PM. Five minutes later, Sohaib tried to access the company network, but his VPN and Windows account had already been blocked.

However, the company apparently forgot to disable Muneeb’s account.