I think we should shut the government back down, until we can figure out what's going on.
It's hard to know where to start, but there's a story today that has to be a new high — or low.
So, in 2015, two twin brothers, Sohaib and Muneeb Akter, were convicted of, oh, a bunch of felonies — I'll get to that in a second — and sent to prison. Muneeb for 39 months, Sohaib for 24 months. Now, their potential sentences were much greater, but the judge cut them slack because of their youth and first-time offender status.
Not that they served even those light sentences. Sohaib served about 20 months, apparently getting credit for good behavior. Muneeb was released after 15 months — it's unclear how that happened; it's a lot less than he should have been able to get for good behavior — but then served an additional 15 months for violating his parole and committing credit card fraud, and four more months for a second parole violation. So still only 34 months total.
So, in today's news, Sohaib and Muneeb have been arrested again,
Here's the part that is particularly striking: They were able to do this because they had been hired by a federal contracting firm called Opexus to do IT work. Because, apparently, they had "paid their debt to society" so they had become trustworthy again.
Okay, I've been through a lot of federal background checks, and this I find kind of amazing. I've had colonoscopies that were less invasive. Did their past history of, frankly, hacking not raise any red flags? But somehow they got new jobs with sensitive access.
WHAT?
I promised the details. So, in 2015, they were convicted of:
hacking a federal contract bidding database in 2013 to give their company an edge
Sohaib, working as a State Department contractor, stole PII ("personally identifying information: like passport and visa details) of co-workers and even a federal agent investigating them.
They attempted to plant a Hak5 "pineapple" — a pen-testing tool that allows man-in-the-middle attacks on the wifi network — and only failed because they broke it while trying to install it.
Oh, and they were running a credit-card fraud operation on the side.
Oh, and a fun little side issue is that Muneeb was under FBI investigation for the 2013 escapade, but was still hired by Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the biggest federal contractors, in 2014.
So, after their release from prison, they were hired by this company Opexus, another "beltway bandit" firm that manages sensitive databases for many federal agencies. They were fired in early 2025. They apparently felt that was unfair, because they then started a revenge campaign. Um, allegedly started. This included:
Muneeb attempting to delete about 96 databases.
Stealing IRS records and EEOC case files for at least 450 people.
Then trying to use AI tools to erase audit logs.
And Sohaib sold passwords and helped destroy company laptops.
The new charges:
Muneeb: Conspiracy, multiple counts of computer fraud, theft of government records, and two counts of aggravated identity theft (carries mandatory 2-year consecutive sentences each). Muneeb could be in for 45 years or more.
Sohaib: Conspiracy and password trafficking.
In short, these two are repeat offenders who:
Served federal prison time for hacking government systems in 2015,
Were somehow allowed back into sensitive federal contractor roles,
Allegedly weaponized that access again in 2025 for revenge after being fired.
I am pretty much dumbfounded. Prosecutors are describing this as one of the most serious insider attacks (no kidding?) But my real question is how did these clowns get through the background checks and gain access as convicted felonious hackers?
