US Army soldier pleads guilty to hacking telcos and extortion

Former U.S. Army soldier Cameron John Wagenius pleaded guilty to hacking telecommunication companies and attempting to extort them by threatening to release stolen files, the Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.

According to the DOJ, Wagenius, who went online with the nickname “kiberphant0m,” conspired to defraud 10 victim companies by stealing their login credentials, using brute force attacks and other techniques, and then used Telegram group chats to transfer the stolen credentials and discusses hacks. 

Wagenius and his conspirators also attempted to extort their victims in private and in public, including on hacking forums such as the notorious BreachForums. They sold some of the stolen data and also used the stolen credentials to commit other frauds, including SIM swapping victims. 

Earlier this year, Wagenius had already pleaded guilty to hacking AT&T and Verizon, a breach that led to him stealing a massive amount of call records.  

Wagenius’ sentencing is scheduled for October 6, and he faces 20 years in prison, according to the press release. 

The hacker has been linked to a series of hacks that originated from the breach of could computing services giant Snowflake.