A 24-year-old man has pleaded guilty to hacking multiple U.S. government systems — then bragging about it online under the handle “ihackedthegovernment.”
Nicholas Moore admitted to accessing platforms linked to the Supreme Court of the United States, AmeriCorps, and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs using stolen login credentials in 2023.
Prosecutors say he repeatedly entered restricted systems and shared screenshots and sensitive data — including information from a veteran’s health records — on Instagram.
Court records show he accessed the Supreme Court’s filing system at least 25 times and also breached accounts tied to AmeriCorps and the VA’s MyHealtheVet platform.
Despite the scale of the breaches, Moore pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor computer fraud charge and avoided prison. Instead, he was sentenced to one year of probation after apologizing in court, with officials noting he did not profit from the data and appeared motivated more by attention than financial gain.
The case highlights how weak credential security can expose critical systems — and how some hackers now treat breaches as content for social media.