Alexandria man convicted of deleting 96 federal databases

A federal jury on Thursday convicted an Alexandria man of conspiring with his twin brother to delete approximately 96 federal government databases after the pair were fired from a contractor that served more than 45 federal agencies.

Sohaib Akhter, 34, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, password trafficking and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 9 and faces a maximum penalty of 21 years in prison.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Sohaib Akhter and his twin brother and co-defendant, Muneeb Akhter, worked for a Washington, D.C., software company that hosted data for federal clients on servers in Ashburn. On Feb. 1, 2025, Muneeb Akhter asked his brother for the plaintext password of someone who had filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Public Portal, which their employer maintained. Sohaib Akhter ran a database query and handed over the password, which was then used to access the complainant’s email account without authorization.

Read more at Alexandria Brief