Maybe he hacked into some stuff to get that information? I think you are severely underestimating what a skilled hacker can access when given even a little access into a system. This guy was a high school drop out, yet somehow how he got picked up by NSA, he is obviously very good at what he does, you don’t need a diploma to know how to code and infiltrate servers.
He probably did something that impressed and got the governments attention and they offered him a Job.