Active-duty campaign targeted at least ten organizations and sought $1 million in ransom payments:
A former US Army soldier has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for hacking telecoms companies, stealing sensitive records, and trying to extort more than $1 million from his victims.
Cameron John Wagenius, 22, carried out the campaign while serving on active duty. He pleaded guilty in March 2025 to unlawfully transferring confidential phone records, then admitted conspiracy to commit wire fraud, computer-related extortion, and aggravated identity theft in a separate case that July.
Court documents say Wagenius conspired with three others to obtain credentials for the protected networks of at least ten organizations between April 2023 and December 2024. During that period, he was stationed in South Korea and Texas.
The Justice Department has not publicly identified the victims, describing them as US and overseas telecommunications companies and other organizations.
Wagenius has also been linked to the 2024 Snowflake extortion campaign, which affected AT&T, Verizon, and numerous other companies, as The Register previously reported.
After two suspects were arrested in connection with the Snowflake attacks, an account controlled by Wagenius claimed to possess AT&T call records belonging to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Using online aliases including "kiberphant0m," Wagenius and his co-conspirators obtained login credentials with a hacking tool he helped develop called SSH Brute, among other methods. They exchanged stolen credentials in Telegram group chats and discussed using them to gain unauthorized access to other parts of victims' networks.
Court documents say the group traded hundreds of credentials and stole hundreds of thousands of customer records from multiple companies.
Wagenius and his accomplices advertised stolen data through XSS, BreachForums, X, and Telegram.
Some posts offered the information for sale, while others threatened to publish it unless victims paid. The Justice Department said the conspirators attempted to extort at least $1 million in total, successfully sold some stolen data, and used other records to commit fraud, including SIM swapping.
US District Judge Lauren King told Wagenius at sentencing: "Your actions show a shocking disregard for the safety and security of the United States... You took these actions motivated by greed and a desire for notoriety."
Wagenius was also ordered to pay $294,978 in restitution.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday October 03, @07:29PM (1 child)
Since he did commit these crimes while serving in the army why is this not a matter for military courts instead of the civilian court system? Is it cause he left before he got caught or? Not sure it matters much but just for interest.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Frosty Piss on Saturday October 03, @08:15PM
Yes, I think that's the case, he got caught after leaving the Army. It may henge on the fact that he was enlisted. Had he been an officer, they could have forcably called him back to Active Duty and court martialed him. I believe that's the way it works. For example, Secretary of Defence Pete Kegsbreath threatened to call Senator Mark Kelly back to active duty to court martial him for suggesting that military members didn't have to follow illegal orders.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 03, @09:04PM
So... he's a republican? This 70 months, he has to serve in the president's cabinet? No doubt under the secretary of war...