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On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced the arrest of two twin brothers who allegedly targeted and deleted government databases hosted by Opexus, a federal government contractor.
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From Fox News:
Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter, both 34, were indicted last month for allegedly conspiring to delete databases used to store U.S. government information, the DOJ said in a news release.
The arrests come after Bloomberg News reported in May how the brothers allegedly compromised data across several agencies, including the IRS and the General Services Administration.
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Following their termination as federal contractors, the pair allegedly attempted to harm their former employer and its U.S. government customers by accessing computers without authorization, issuing commands to bar others from modifying the databases before they were removed, deleting databases, stealing information and destroying evidence of their activities, the DOJ said on Wednesday in the latest case against the two men.
The brothers reportedly deleted nearly 100 databases, many of which contained Freedom of Information Act records. After deleting the databases, one brother allegedly asked an AI took how to clear system logs, and both talked about cleaning out their house in anticipation of a police search.
Interestingly, this is not the brothers’ first run-in with the law. In 2015 the two pleaded guilty to “federal charges of conspiracy in connection with data breaches at the State Department and a cosmetics company,” according to Fox. They served multiple years in prison before landing jobs at Opexus.
Both Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter as charges with conspiracy to commit computer and to destroy records as well as computer fraud. Muneeb also received additional charges for theft of U.S. government records and aggravated identity theft.
This news comes only a week after a deadly terrorist attack in D.C. and an alleged plan to bomb a building in Fort Worth, Texas. As attacks and crimes like these continue, let’s pray both for protection and for our leaders as they seek to apprehend dangerous criminals!
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(Excerpt from Fox News. Photo Credit: Tunvarat Pruksachat/Getty Images)
