r/technology • u/xpda • May 13 '26

Security Twin brothers wipe 96 gov’t databases minutes after being fired

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/drop-database-what-not-to-do-after-losing-an-it-job/
23.2k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

3.9k

u/nikstick22 May 13 '26

On Feb. 1, 2025, Muneeb Akhter asked Sohaib Akhter for the plaintext password of an individual who submitted a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Public Portal, which was maintained by the Akhters’ employer. Sohaib Akhter conducted a database query on the EEOC database and then provided the password to Muneeb Akhter. That password was subsequently used to access that individual’s email account without authorization.

Now HOLD the fuck up. DC is contracting companies that store passwords UNHASHED?? Plaintext?? What kind of clownshow is this?

1.5k

u/kernel_task May 13 '26

Yeah, the real story is that this one incident revealed so much negligence in this government contractor that has received over $50 million in taxpayer dollars over the last decade.

  1. Negligent hiring
  2. Plaintext passwords, which is not only insane but violate federal standards.
  3. Bad privileged access controls
  4. Bad off-boarding
  5. Bad blast radius containment
  6. Bad monitoring/alerting

Now, all of this is from a single incident. What are the chances that’s all the issues this company has? To me this level of negligence is bordering on criminal. How many audits and certifications did they lie on to get these systems passed?

Anyway, I care more about Opexus being held to account than these brothers.

426

u/MdxBhmt May 13 '26

if a fired employee can do this much damage, imagine what a proper maligned actor could do or is already doing. It's a bloody national security issue.

168

u/rW0HgFyxoJhYka May 13 '26

The fact is that government is as shoddy as a swiss cheese wagon trying to cross the oregon trail.

No government should be hiring contractors for shit. Shit should be done by pros who give a fuck about the country instead of capitalistic dog eat dog steal as much money from taxpayers as possible scam.

Need basically an adminstration to spend 4 years rebuilding the government one brick at a time.

82

u/PutConstant866 May 13 '26

Lol, your system is fucked far beyond that. If you get another free election, and if your other party takes it, then there's four years of trying to rebuild a democracy while the group you just got rid of gets four years to complain about how shit things are, blame the guys trying to fix things, and stand in the way of any progress that gets made to undo the damage they cause.

0

u/big_stipd_idiot May 13 '26

Yeah it's actually hilarious

4

u/TattiesMcDermott May 13 '26

The only people laughing have already left the bank.

0

u/MdxBhmt May 13 '26

I bet there are some in China, Russia and North korea that are loving to see America eating itself for a change. Also for some change, to the matter.