Sentencing of former U.S. soldier for cybercrime

Cameron James Wagenius, a 22-year-old former U.S. Army soldier, has been sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for his involvement in a widespread cybercrime and extortion campaign. While on active duty at Fort Hood between April 2023 and December 2024, Wagenius operated under the alias “kiberphant0m” and helped develop hacking tools used to target at least 10 organizations.

The campaign targeted major telecommunications providers, including AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, as well as customers of the data storage company Snowflake. The group used tools such as the SSH Brute utility to breach systems, exfiltrate sensitive data like phone call logs, and attempt to extort more than $1 million from victims. In November 2024, Wagenius publicly disclosed confidential call detail records belonging to a government official and threatened further releases unless ransoms were paid.

Wagenius pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, computer-related extortion, and aggravated identity theft. In addition to his prison sentence, he was ordered to pay $294,978 in restitution. The investigation also identified accomplices Connor Riley Moucka, a Canadian national, and U.S. citizen John Erin Binns.