A US Army soldier suspected of hacking AT&T and Verizon has admitted leaking online people's private call records. Cameron John Wagenius informed a federal court in Seattle, Wednesday, he intends to plead guilty [PDF] to two counts of unlawfully transferring confidential phone records, with no plea deal in sight. He was cuffed last month aged 20 after being indicted. In December, US prosecutors had simply claimed [PDF] Wagenius on November 6 did "knowingly and intentionally sell and transfer, and attempt to sell and transfer, confidential phone records ... without prior authorization." Here's where it gets interesting. Last month, prosecutors linked Wagenius with two others accused of stealing data from more than 150 Snowflake cloud accounts in April 2024, data that would be publicly leaked by the crew if a ransom wasn't paid. It is alleged Wagenius was recruited by the pair to help in that extortion. Wagenius was believed to be using the underworld handle Kiberphant0m, who had bragged online of having compromised at least 15 telecommunications firms including AT&T and Verizon, and was even allegedly able to get their hands on Donald Trump and Kamala Harris's call logs. When one of the other two suspected Snowflake extortionists was arrested, whoever was behind Kiberphant0m threatened on November 6 that they would release sensitive US government call logs unless AT&T – one of the Snowflake victims – got in touch. As part of that threat, Kiber released a sample of people's con...
US Army soldier linked to Snowflake extortion rampage admits breaking the law
The Register
·Iain Thomson
·Published Feb 20, 2025
·Updated
Affected Software
3 affected components
AT&T telecommunications systems
Verizon telecommunications systems
Snowflake cloud accounts
Frequently Asked Questions
1
What is the main topic of this article?
The article discusses a US Army soldier admitting to illegally leaking private call records from AT&T and Verizon.
2
What security implications are discussed?
The implications involve significant breaches of privacy and cybersecurity risks related to unauthorized access to telecommunications data.
3
What products or software are affected?
The affected products include telecommunications systems from AT&T and Verizon, as well as Snowflake cloud accounts.
4
What charges is the US Army soldier facing?
The soldier is expected to plead guilty to charges related to hacking and leaking private information.
5
How does this incident impact consumer privacy?
This incident raises serious concerns about consumer data protection and the security of personal information held by telecommunications providers.