WASHINGTON – A Tennessee man admitted Friday to hacking the U.S. Supreme Court’s electronic filing system and publicly posting stolen confidential records to social media.
Nicholas Moore, 24, of Springfield, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to one count of computer fraud in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The plea covers unauthorized intrusions into the Supreme Court, AmeriCorps, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) networks throughout 2023.
Scope of the Breach
Moore utilized compromised credentials to bypass security protocols on the Supreme Court’s electronic filing system. Between July and October 2023, he accessed the restricted platform on at least 25 separate days.
Once authenticated as an authorized user, Moore exfiltrated personal records and subsequently published them on an Instagram account with the handle @ihackedthegovernment.
The intrusion extended beyond the judiciary. Moore used similar techniques to breach two other federal systems:
AmeriCorps: He accessed the “MyAmeriCorps” portal seven times using an authorized user’s login details.
Department of Veterans Affairs: He infiltrated the “MyHealtheVet” platform to access a U.S. Marine Corps veteran’s private medical history, including blood type and prescription records.
Public Disclosure via Social Media
The stolen data was not sold on dark web forums but broadcast publicly. Moore used his Instagram account to display screenshots of the unauthorized access, exposing personally identifiable information (PII) to the public.
The leaks included:
Full names
Home addresses
Phone numbers
Sensitive medical records
Security Implications
The breach underscores the critical risk of static credentials. Moore did not exploit a zero-day vulnerability or complex code flaw; he leveraged valid, stolen login information to masquerade as a legitimate user.
This incident serves as a case study for the necessity of phishing-resistant Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and anomaly detection. A user logging into a filing system dozens of times in a short window, or accessing diverse federal portals from a single non-standard location, should trigger automated security flags.
Sentencing and Penalty
Moore faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell is scheduled to hand down the sentence on April 17, 2026.
The investigation involved the Supreme Court of the United States Police Protective Intelligence Unit, the FBI Washington Field Office, and Inspectors General from both the VA and AmeriCorps.
Sources
- https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hacker-admits-to-leaking-stolen-supreme-court-data-on-instagram/
- https://apnews.com/article/nicholas-moore-supreme-court-hacked-filing-system-49fc196ba3f3914f869e85c8cd30edbc
- https://newschannel9.com/news/local/tennessee-man-pleads-guilty-to-repeatedly-hacking-supreme-courts-filing-system
- https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/tennessee-man-pleads-guilty-to-hacking-supreme-court-system
