Hackers’ revenge: fired brothers carry out largest attack on US government databases.

A major US cybersecurity incident has resulted in a guilty verdict: two twin brothers, Sohaib and Munib Akhter, used their professional access to destroy critical government data. Prosecutors say the massive attack on government infrastructure was carried out in retaliation for being fired from a contractor company.

Avengers of Opexus

Sohaib Akhter, along with his twin brother Munib, destroyed nearly a hundred US government databases after they were fired from their jobs at government contractor Opexus. The brothers were arrested in early December 2025. The investigation found that they abused their authority as federal contractors to gain unauthorized access to secure computer systems, steal credentials and systematically destroy government data that affected the interests of multiple federal agencies. At the time of their arrest, the brothers had at their disposal a collection of 5,400 other people’s credentials, which they used, including for personal purposes — to book hotels and flights for other people’s bonus miles.

This incident was not the debut of the brothers in the criminal world. Back in 2015, the Akhter twins pleaded guilty to fraud. Then they hacked the cosmetics company’s system and stole thousands of credit card numbers to pay for personal vacations. Munib was then sentenced to three years in prison, and Sohaib to two. The most daring fact of this case was that the brothers got access even to the data of the federal investigator who was investigating them.

Characteristics of the case

The investigation revealed a striking speed of preparation and implementation of the crime. The removal process began just six minutes after the official announcement of the layoff. In just a few hours, the criminals managed to do the following:

• 96 databases of various US departments were destroyed.
• Munib Akhter illegally downloaded over 1,800 files belonging to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
• The tax data of several hundred US citizens was stolen.

The problems for the brothers in 2025 began with the unauthorized access to the mail of a person who filed a complaint with the EEOC. The employer (the Opexus company), having learned about Sohaib’s criminal past, decided to immediately fire both brothers. Trying to replace the traces of previous abuses, they initiated the deletion of the databases. During the search of Sohaib’s house, the law enforcement officers found not only evidence of burglaries, but also a firearm, which he was not allowed to possess due to previous convictions. Sohaib tried to sell seven weapons through an advertisement before his arrest.

Conditions and punishment

So far, a jury has already found Sohaib Akhter guilty on a number of charges. The announcement of his final sentence is scheduled for early September. He faces up to 21 years in prison for all the crimes. His brother, Munib, has entered into a plea deal and is also awaiting a determination of his future fate.