In a stunning turn of events, a man who ran an Instagram account called @ihackedthegovernment has admitted to the court that he may have, in fact, hacked the government. Nicholas Moore, 25, of Tennessee, pleaded guilty to accessing government systems with stolen login credentials and then, in a move that displayed a profound lack of operational security, bragged about it on the very public platform of Instagram. His digital tour included user accounts on the US Supreme Court's electronic filing system, AmeriCorps, and the Veterans Administration Health System. He then thoughtfully posted screenshots of the users' personal information to his account, though how he obtained the logins remains a mystery.
Today, in US District Court for the District of Columbia, Moore was sentenced to a year of probation, a decision that notably did not involve a prison cell. The US government, while taking the breach seriously, had only requested 36 months of probation for the unauthorized access spree that occurred from August to October of 2023. Their sentencing recommendation explicitly did not ask for jail time or a fine, setting the stage for a relatively lenient outcome.
Appearing remotely before US District Judge Beryl Howell, Moore offered a masterclass in contrition. "I made a mistake," he said, according to The Hill. "I am truly sorry. I respect laws, and I want to be a good citizen." This heartfelt apology was for actions that his January guilty plea confirmed involved hacking the Supreme Court's system at least 25 times, plus the AmeriCorps and VA Health System accounts.
The government explained its soft touch by describing Moore as "a vulnerable young man with long-term disabilities" who had taken responsibility. In a sentencing memorandum, they argued that while his "conduct must not be taken lightly," it "stopped short of a level that would justify incarceration for a defendant with Moore's mental health and medical needs." He was charged with fraud and related activity in connection with computers, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine, but will serve none of that time and pay none of that money.