Supreme Court Hacker Details Emerge: Stolen Data Posted on Instagram, AmeriCorps and Department of Veterans Affairs Also Breached
Published
Key Takeaways
- New Details: The individual who pleaded guilty to hacking into the U.S. Supreme Court's electronic filing system and other federal agencies leaked data on Instagram.
- Multiple Agencies Breached: He also infiltrated the networks of AmeriCorps and the Department of Veterans Affairs using stolen user credentials.
- Public Data Exposure: The leaked sensitive stolen data included personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI).
The Nicholas Moore hacking case has revealed significant intrusions into multiple U.S. federal agencies. Court documents now show the scope of his activities was broader, encompassing breaches at AmeriCorps, a federal volunteer agency, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Moore gained unauthorized access to these systems by using stolen credentials, highlighting a critical vulnerability in authentication processes, such as the lack of multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Stolen Data Published on Social Media
Nicholas Moore, a 24-year-old from Tennessee, has pleaded guilty to charges related to hacking the U.S. Supreme Court’s electronic document filing system. A new filing revealed that Moore publicly posted the exfiltrated sensitive information under the Instagram handle @ihackthegovernment.Â
He used stolen credentials to gain access to one user account on the U.S. Supreme Court electronic filing system, one account on the internal MyAmeriCorps portal, and one account on the MyHealtheVet website.
For the Supreme Court data breach, he exposed the victim’s name, email address, physical address, birth date, phone number, and the private answers the user gave to the three security questions.
In the AmeriCorps incident, he published extensive PII, including the victim's name, address, Social Security Number digits, and service history. In the Department of Veterans Affairs breach, he leaked protected health information, including a screenshot of the veteran's prescribed medications.Â
Cybersecurity Risks and Legal Consequences
Following his guilty plea, Moore faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 for his crimes. By publicly posting the stolen sensitive data, the individual dramatically increased the risk of harm to the affected individuals.Â
Prosecutors still have not publicly disclosed the methods Moore used to bypass the court's authentication measures, the specific motive behind the intrusion, or the source of the stolen credentials.Â
This month, New Zealand is formally reviewing the cyberattack targeting a private health platform used by medical facilities nationwide to manage the records of approximately 1.8 million individuals, as a hacker claimed to have stolen over 428,000 files.
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