US soldier leaked Trump’s phone records and was arrested

A US Army soldier has been arrested for his alleged involvement in a cyberattack plot linked to the theft and sale of phone records. Cameron John Wagenius, 20, was charged in November last year with selling “confidential phone records” through online forums and communication platforms, according to a court indictment.

Although the indictment does not detail the exact content of the hacked materials, cybersecurity researcher KrebsOnSecurity suggests that Wagenius was linked to an online identity known under the pseudonym “Kiberphant0m.” Kiberphant0m claimed to have hacked 15 telecom companies and is said to have sold stolen information together with the person thought to be linked to the Snowflake data breaches.

Last November, it was alleged that Kiberphant0m shared a data set allegedly belonging to AT&T and containing call recordings of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Although the authenticity of this data has not yet been verified, AT&T is known to have experienced a massive customer data theft during the Snowflake account breaches last year. In 2023, it is alleged that the same hacker sold “remote access credentials” belonging to a major US defense contractor.

Wagenius reportedly worked in the communications department at a military base in South Korea. Following the leak of data allegedly belonging to Trump and Harris, KrebsOnSecurity claimed that it analyzed Kiberphant0m’s online activities and determined that this person was a US soldier. Additionally, Wagenius’ mother confirmed her son’s connection to the Snowflake hacker.

Cybersecurity experts faced harassment as they tried to identify Kiberphant0m. Allison Nixon, chief investigator of the cyber security firm Unit 221B, made a striking comment about this situation. Nixon said, “As a soldier, anonymously threatening the President and Vice President is a bad idea. But harassing people who specialize in revealing the identity of cybercriminals is an even worse idea,” he said.

The accusations and investigation against Wagenius continue to be closely followed within both the US military and the cybersecurity community. This incident is an important warning in terms of both data security and potential threats within the army.