Prison Sentence for Former US Soldier Who Hacked AT&T and Verizon

Summary

Cameron John Wagenius, a former US Army soldier, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for hacking into AT&T and Verizon systems. He accessed call detail records of a government official, threatened to release more data, and conspired with others to extort at least $1 million from victim organizations. Wagenius also sold stolen data on cybercrime forums.

Full text

A former US soldier was sentenced to 70 months in prison for hacking into AT&T and Verizon systems and leaking the call detail records of a government official. The individual, Cameron John Wagenius, 22, a former Army soldier, allegedly hacked into wireless carriers’ databases to retrieve sensitive information and extort the victims, documents presented in court show. He engaged in hacking activities between April 2023 and December 2024, while on active duty. According to court documents, in November 2024, Wagenius publicly disclosed the confidential call detail records of a government official and threatened to release additional confidential records. Wagenius was using the online moniker “kiberphant0m” and conspired with others to defraud at least 10 organizations by obtaining credentials for their systems using the SSH Brute utility and other tools. The cybercriminals used the credentials to access the victim organizations’ systems and exfiltrate data, and then extorted them on private and public forums, threatening to publish the stolen information.Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading. Wagenius and his accomplices also sold some of the stolen data via cybercrime forums, and used some of it for other fraudulent activities. According to the court documents, the conspirators attempted to extort at least $1 million from the victim organizations. Wagenius was arrested in December 2024. In February 2025, he admitted in court to sharing confidential phone records, and in July 2025 pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and extortion charges. In addition to the 70-month prison term, Wagenius was ordered to pay $294,978 in restitution. His conspirators include Canadian national Connor Riley Moucka, also known as Judische, and US citizen John Erin Binns, who were involved in hacking AT&T, T-Mobile, and the Snowflake hacking campaign that affected hundreds of organizations. Moucka pleaded guilty in August. Related: Kosovar Owner of Rydox Marketplace Pleads Guilty in US Court Related: Google Warns of ShinyHunters’ Fresh Oracle PeopleSoft Campaign Related: Ukrainian Extradited to US Faces Charges in Jabber Zeus Cybercrime Case Related: North Korea Suspected in $351 Million Bitget Crypto Heist Written By Ionut Arghire Ionut Arghire is an international correspondent for SecurityWeek. Daily Briefing Newsletter Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing for the latest cybersecurity threats, trends, and expert insights. 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Indicators of Compromise

• malware — SSH Brute utility

Entities