Vetting staff who handle sensitive government systems is wise, and so is cutting off their access the moment they're fired. Prosecutors say a federal contractor learned this the hard way when twin brothers previously convicted of hacking-related offenses allegedly used lingering access to delete nearly 100 government databases, including systems tied to Homeland Security and other agencies, within minutes of being terminated.

The siblings allegedly hatched the plan during the call in which they were being fired, and asked an AI to help them cover their tracks.

Brothers Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter, both 34, of Alexandria, Virginia, were indicted on November 13 for conspiring to delete databases used to store US government information.

They both worked as federal contractors for a company th

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