Sohaib Akhter, who is a resident of Virginia, has been sentenced by a federal jury after being charged of conspiring to execute a retaliatory cyber-attack on US government databases due to the fact that he and his twin brother were fired by their federal contractor in 2025.
According to the prosecutors, the cyber-attack led to the disruption of computer systems that are utilized by over 45 different government organizations while deleting approximately 96 databases containing sensitive data linked to government programs.
The United States Department of Justice issued a statement confirming that the 34-year-old individual from Alexandria was found guilty on various criminal charges including conspiracy to commit computer fraud, password trafficking, and possession of firearms by a prohibited individual.
According to the prosecutors, Sohaib Akhter together with his twin brother, Muneeb Akhter executed the attack through the use of his privileged access at his place of employment, which is a technology contractor based in Washington.
According to court documents, the case started on February 1, 2025. The prosecution stated that Muneeb Akhter had approached his brother to get the plaintext password of a user who had reported his grievance via the EEOC public site.
It was revealed that Sohaib Akhter accessed the EEOC website and retrieved the credentials of the person concerned. This information was used by him to log into the email address of the victim without his consent.
It was also found that the man had a previous criminal record of felony. During a video conference call on February 18, 2025, the contractor dismissed the duo.
Fired Virginia Brothers Accused of Wiping 96 Government Databases in Massive Cyberattack
As per investigators, the pair reacted quickly to the news.
The investigation found that after being let go from work, the brothers hacked the company servers and started tampering with the databases linked with the government bodies. They apparently protected their activity, deleted databases, and write-protected systems.
The attack lasted for many hours and was responsible for creating chaos in several government departments.
According to the prosecutors, the brothers were able to delete about 96 databases from servers located in Ashburn, which is one of the major centers for data storage in the country.
The destroyed databases included those associated with case management software and websites where requests were made through the Freedom of Information Act.
Officials stated that the breach impacted several agencies that depended on the contractor’s facilities to host their sensitive government data.
The Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva added that the hack impacted millions of Americans, whose trust was betrayed by the government when handling private information and sensitive requests.
The prosecutors found several firearms associated with Sohaib Akhter.
They mentioned that the man was not allowed to own a weapon due to his previous felony conviction. The investigation showed that he attempted to sell seven firearms after searching his house in March 2025.
This incident also drew attention back to the brothers’ past crimes.
Insider Threats and the Vulnerability of Centralized Federal Systems
In 2015, both individuals pleaded guilty for the crime of wire fraud and unauthorized access to federal computers. According to the prosecution, this crime involved access to federal computer systems without permission.
Additionally, Sohaib Akhter pleaded guilty for making false statements and obstruction of justice during this crime.
Sohaib Akhter was in jail for two years as a consequence of this crime.
Many cybersecurity professionals have repeatedly raised concerns about the danger of insider attacks. Insiders differ from regular hackers because they have legitimate credentials and possess comprehensive knowledge about systems.
This is evident from the Akhters’ case and the rapid transformation of trust into a serious threat to cybersecurity when companies fail to terminate access immediately.
In the past few years, more money has been spent by government contractors and federal agencies in regards to detecting such threats. Modern organizations often use automated tools that remove all access immediately upon termination of employment.
Another important issue demonstrated in this case relates to centralizing of hosting services by one company in the service of several federal agencies.
Sohaib Akhter will be sentenced on September 9, 2026. The maximum possible sentence that Sohaib can receive is 21 years in federal prison.
The federal government has yet to reveal the sentencing date for Muneeb Akhter.
