Twin brothers wipe 96 government databases minutes after being fired • Hacker News Board

Re: Twin brothers wipe 96 government databases minutes after being fired

#71

Post by BrandoElFollito » Wed, May 13, 2026, 7:32 PM UTC

jagged-chisel wrote: post #25

nine_k wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> just please don't make me come in to the office. But how do you pick up the stuff from your desk? I once lost a nice pair of headphones this way.

Meh. Don't leave anything at work. Forgo the convenience and carry your things on your commute. Use a bag. If there's "too much stuff", that's a sign to pare back what you "need" at work.

Yes, I will bag my two tree-sized plants, 4 paintings, 1 old map, 2 posters, drawings of my kids, figurines and a few more things. Ah yes, the ball I sit on.

I spend in the office more time than at home so I want a nice environment.

Re: Twin brothers wipe 96 government databases minutes after being fired

#72

Post by ck2 » Wed, May 13, 2026, 7:34 PM UTC

imagine the delete-fest the current whitehouse is going to do in a few years

all with pardons waiting so they can't be convicted

they might not even wait a few years

Re: Twin brothers wipe 96 government databases minutes after being fired

#73

Post by tclancy » Wed, May 13, 2026, 7:35 PM UTC

soVeryTired wrote: post #44

> On March 12, 2025, a search warrant was executed at Sohaib’s home in Alexandria. Agents grabbed plenty of tech gear but also turned up seven firearms and 370 rounds of .30 caliber ammunition. Given his former crimes, Sohaib should have had none of this. For god's sake, don't commit crimes while you're committing crimes.

I was kind of hoping he sprinted out his back door which happened to be on a state line and then mailed his guns back to his house, just to try to cover everything.

Re: Twin brothers wipe 96 government databases minutes after being fired

#74

Post by jimmaswell » Wed, May 13, 2026, 7:36 PM UTC

nine_k wrote: post #22

chrisra wrote: post #2

I have no problem with my credentials being revoked everywhere before I know about a layoff. I don't really care how I learn about it, just please don't make me come in to the office.

> just please don't make me come in to the office. But how do you pick up the stuff from your desk? I once lost a nice pair of headphones this way.

I've never had a job with a permanent individual desk like this. The one in-person real job I had, it was only shared working space that different people used at different times of the day or on different days, and I think you were discouraged from leaving anything. The idea of there being "your desk" with a framed photo of your kids and favorite coffee mug seems like a nearly extinct piece of nostalgia. It must have been nice in a way, far preferable to the new style of open office at least.

Re: Twin brothers wipe 96 government databases minutes after being fired

#75

Post by buckhx » Wed, May 13, 2026, 7:37 PM UTC

afavour wrote: post #56

jagged-chisel wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meh. Don't leave anything at work. Forgo the convenience and carry your things on your commute. Use a bag. If there's "too much stuff", that's a sign to pare back what you "need" at work.

God, if we're at the point where we're so paranoid about being laid off that we don't dare leave a single piece of personal property in the office then I think we're in a very dark place indeed. Can’t imagine the mental damage from considering losing your job every single day you wake up.

well this did just happen to me. laid off while taking care of my father in laws estate and my personal belongings were thrown away. 7 years at the company as an EM ftr.

Re: Twin brothers wipe 96 government databases minutes after being fired

#76

Post by lesuorac » Wed, May 13, 2026, 7:37 PM UTC

tempaccount5050 wrote: post #45

scottlamb wrote: post #39

> [Opexus] said that “the individuals responsible for hiring the twins are no longer employed by Opexus.” Getting close to the classic Monty Python line: "Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked, have been sacked." Jokes aside, stuff like this sucks because I suspect many employers will take from it the most extreme, dehumanizing lessons, e.g.: (a) make firings [edit: including lay-offs] as…

When you are talking about access like they had "make firings as abrupt as possible including terminating all access immediately" not doing this is incompetence. This is absolutely a standard and has to be for these kinds of positions. I've never worked anywhere where it wasn't for the majority of IT staff. You meet with HR, someone clears your desk, and security walks you out.

Yeah but if you defense against somebody erasing a database is "we remove their access when they're fired" then your defense is garbage.

Like there's so many other attack vectors besides an upset ex-employee.. Like all those articles about NK employees who presumably are trying very hard not to be fired. Or employees using company provided insecure email software leaving them vulnerable to ransomware et al.

Re: Twin brothers wipe 96 government databases minutes after being fired

#77

Post by collingreen » Wed, May 13, 2026, 7:39 PM UTC

game_the0ry wrote: post #59

lostlogin wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ready access to AI tools sure makes vandalism easy.

Ai is just a tool. You can kill with hammer, doesn't mean you ban hammers. And they could have used stack overflow instead of ai.

My god, they didn't say ban ai they said it makes vandalism easy.

No need to knee jerk react to an argument that hasn't been made.

Re: Twin brothers wipe 96 government databases minutes after being fired

#78

Post by jjk7 » Wed, May 13, 2026, 7:39 PM UTC

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #69

giantg2 wrote: post #55

How did they get access to 5k passwords? Are they being sent/stored in cleartext? This is the most baffling part of the article for me. The second part I'm unclear about is how you could pass SOC2 when you aren't terminating account access simultaneously with the employment termination.

And how exactly do you want to store passwords if not in plain text (and then encrypted of course)? 5k is a lot, the authorization process is broken, but this is not related to how the passwords are stored. The only solution is correct access segregation and a bastion

Assuming you're serious? Store passwords with salted one-way hashes.

Re: Twin brothers wipe 96 government databases minutes after being fired

#79

Post by jm_l » Wed, May 13, 2026, 7:39 PM UTC

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #69

giantg2 wrote: post #55

How did they get access to 5k passwords? Are they being sent/stored in cleartext? This is the most baffling part of the article for me. The second part I'm unclear about is how you could pass SOC2 when you aren't terminating account access simultaneously with the employment termination.

And how exactly do you want to store passwords if not in plain text (and then encrypted of course)? 5k is a lot, the authorization process is broken, but this is not related to how the passwords are stored. The only solution is correct access segregation and a bastion

Typically you store a hash of user passwords instead, then when logging in you hash the user password client-side and compare the hashes. This acts like a one-way function that protects the password while letting the user authenticate themselves.

Re: Twin brothers wipe 96 government databases minutes after being fired

#80

Post by alexjplant » Wed, May 13, 2026, 7:42 PM UTC

afavour wrote: post #56

jagged-chisel wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meh. Don't leave anything at work. Forgo the convenience and carry your things on your commute. Use a bag. If there's "too much stuff", that's a sign to pare back what you "need" at work.

God, if we're at the point where we're so paranoid about being laid off that we don't dare leave a single piece of personal property in the office then I think we're in a very dark place indeed. Can’t imagine the mental damage from considering losing your job every single day you wake up.

I never left anything valuable or personal at my desk when I worked in an office simply because I had a very nonzero number of colleagues who acted like animals. My fizzy waters, coffee, and snacks would be consumed without permission or replenishment. Chairs, monitors, and input peripherals would get swapped without asking. Desks surfaces would be sat on with chairs used as footstools. Corporate effluvia of all types would end up on my "unused desk" because I wasn't in at the exact moment some roving bandit walked by looking for a spot to dump their crates of paper and binders.

Some people simply have no regard for others and will mess with or jack your shit. Don't give them the chance.