Back in February, as Trump's DOGE was marching through the federal government canceling superfluous government contracts, Pakistani twin brothers Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter got the axe, and on their way out, they erased several databases while stealing citizens' personal information.
From the DOJ:
‘These defendants abused their positions as federal contractors to attack government databases and steal sensitive government information. Their actions jeopardized the security of government systems and disrupted agencies' ability to serve the American people,' said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.
They deleted about 96 databases related to Freedom of Information Act matters and stole the IRS information of at least 450 individuals.
If convicted, Muneeb Akhter faces a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison for each aggravated identity theft count and a maximum penalty of 45 years in prison on the remaining charges. If convicted, Sohaib Akhter faces a maximum penalty of six years in prison.
Terrible right?
This isn't the first time this pair has hacked the government.
Back in 2015, they were both convicted on similar charges.
The Akhter brothers and co-conspirators engaged in a series of computer intrusions and attempted computer intrusions against the U.S. Department of State to obtain sensitive passport and visa information and other related and valuable information about State Department computer systems.
And in that event, they tried to install a persistent back door into the State Department's system.
In 2015, Muneeb Akhter was sentenced to 39 months in prison and Sohaib Akhter was sentenced to 24 months in prison. Each man was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
And yet, Biden's administration hired them again!
Convicted data thieves!
If it wasn't for Trump winning and, as a result, Elon Musk taking over at DOGE, they'd probably still be there.
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