In July 2025, a former US Army soldier serving in Texas pleaded guilty to a massive hacking and extortion conspiracy. This case has shocked American society for conducting online hacker activities during military service and demanding over $1 million in funds from telecommunications companies.
According to US Department of Justice records dated July 15, 2025, 21-year-old Cameron John Wagenius, using the nickname "kiberphant0m" from April 2023 to December 2024, participated in a hacking conspiracy targeting at least 10 telecommunications companies. Wagenius and accomplices used hacking tools including "SSH Brute" to obtain login credentials for organizational internal networks. They exchanged stolen credentials via Telegram chatrooms and illegally accessed corporate internal databases. When stolen data was secured, they sent extortion messages to victim companies directly or threatened to expose information on cybercrime forums like BreachForums and XSS.is. Stolen data was sold on underground markets for thousands of dollars, with some also misused for secondary crimes like SIM swapping. Total extortion attempts reached $1 million. Most crimes were committed while Wagenius was on active Army duty.
Wagenius pleaded guilty in federal court to 3 major charges: computer fraud conspiracy, hacking extortion, and aggravated identity theft. Maximum sentences: computer fraud conspiracy up to 20 years; hacking extortion up to 5 years; identity theft adds 2 additional years separate from other sentences. Wagenius had already separately pleaded guilty to illegal distribution of classified communication records related to this case. Final sentencing is scheduled for October 6, 2025. This case was investigated through cooperation between the FBI, DCIS, Army CID, Texas US Attorney''s Office, and National Security Cyber Section, with cybersecurity firms Flashpoint and Unit 221B providing support. This case shows that advanced cybercrime can occur even within the US military, and that the combined threat of telecom hacking, data extortion, underground market data sales, and secondary crimes like SIM swapping is becoming reality. "We will strengthen cybercrime crackdowns and prevention in close cooperation with victim companies," investigative authorities stated.
