Tennessee man pleads guilty to hacking Supreme Court
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A Tennessee-based man pleaded guilty Friday to hacking the U.S. Supreme Court, AmeriCorps and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Why it matters: Breaking into any of those systems is unprecedented and exposes sensitive court documents and personal information.
Driving the news: Nicholas Moore, a 24-year-old man who lives with his parents in Springfield, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to a Class A misdemeanor as part of a plea deal Friday.
- Moore pleaded guilty remotely, given he "does not have a car, does not drive and does not work because of mental health disabilities that have debilitated him since his childhood," according to a court document filed last week.
Zoom in: According to court documents, Moore accessed the Supreme Court's electronic filing system without permission between Aug. 29 and Oct. 22, 2023, using stolen credentials on 25 different days.
- On July 29, 2023, Moore posted screenshots from the Supreme Court homepage's filing system to an Instagram account he ran called @ihackedthegovernment.
- Moore then used another set of stolen credentials to break into AmeriCorps' servers between Aug. 17 and Oct. 13, 2023, according to the documents, and posted screenshots from that breach to the same Instagram account.
- He also stole login credentials from a U.S. Marine veteran to log in to the Department of Veterans Affairs health portal on five days between Sept. 14 and Oct. 14, 2023 — and Moore disclosed that person's health information in screenshots on social media.
The intrigue: In the Supreme Court hack, Moore obtained not only an authorized user's name and email address but also their date of birth, home address and private answers to three security questions to gain access to the system, per the document.
The big picture: Relying on basic password security is no longer enough to keep hackers out of the most sensitive government systems.
What's next: Moore faces up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. His sentencing hearing will take place April 17.
