Cameron John Wagenius, a 22-year-old former US Army soldier, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for an extensive cybercriminal campaign targeting telecommunications companies. Operating whilst stationed in South Korea and Texas, Wagenius hacked at least ten organisations, stole sensitive customer records, and conspired to extort over $1 million from his victims. This case underscores significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities within critical infrastructure sectors and demonstrates how active-duty military personnel became instrumental in facilitating organised cybercrime.

Wagenius conspired with three others between April 2023 and December 2024 to obtain network credentials using a hacking tool called SSH Brute, which he helped develop. The conspiracy stole hundreds of thousands of customer records from targeted organisations and attempted to extort approximately $1 million by advertising stolen data on platforms including Telegram and BreachForums. He has been linked to the 2024 Snowflake extortion campaign affecting AT&T, Verizon, and other major companies. Wagenius was ordered to pay $294,978 in restitution.