FORT HOOD, Texas (KXXV) — A former Army soldier stationed at Fort Hood pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiring to hack into telecommunications companies' databases, access sensitive records, and extort these companies by threatening to release stolen data unless ransoms were paid.
Cameron Wagenius, 21, used the online alias “kiberphant0m” and conspired with others between April 2023 and Dec. 18, 2024, to defraud at least 10 organizations by obtaining login credentials for their protected computer networks, according to court documents.
The group employed a hacking tool known as SSH Brute, along with other methods, to gain access. Conversations about stolen credentials and unauthorized access took place in Telegram group chats during Wagenius's active duty with the U.S. Army.
"We are aware of the arrest of a Fort Cavazos [Hood] soldier," Colonel Kamil Sztalkoper, spokesperson for the III Armored Corps, told Reuters in an email. "III Armored Corps will continue to cooperate with all law enforcement agencies as appropriate."
Once the data was stolen, the conspirators extorted the victim organizations through both private and public means, threatening to publish the hacked data on cybercrime forums such as BreachForums and XSS.is.
They offered to sell this information for thousands of dollars and successfully sold some of the stolen data, which facilitated additional fraud schemes, including SIM swapping.
In total, Wagenius and his co-conspirators attempted to extort at least $1 million from the victims.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller for the Western District of Washington, Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI's Cyber Division, and Special Agent in Charge Kenneth DeChellis of the Department of Defense's Office of Inspector General made the announcement.
Wagenius pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, extortion in relation to computer fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He is set to be sentenced on Oct. 6 and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy, five years for extortion, and a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence for aggravated identity theft.
He previously pleaded guilty in a separate case to two counts of unlawfully transferring confidential phone records related to this conspiracy. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI and the Department of Defense's Criminal Investigative Service are investigating the case, with assistance from the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigative Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, and the National Security Cyber Section. Additional support was provided by Flashpoint and Unit 221B.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Counsel Louisa Becker and Trial Attorney George Brown of the Justice Department's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Sok Tea Jiang for the Western District of Washington.
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