A Texas man, Cameron John Wagenius, has been arrested for allegedly attempting to sell private phone records from AT&T, including the calls of high-profile figures like Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump.
The FBI stepped in after Wagenius, using the hacker name Kiperphant0m, threatened to leak sensitive phone records unless AT&T paid up. His warning, posted online in November, sent shockwaves through the cybersecurity world. He even claimed to have call logs from government officials, sending a clear message to the telecom giant: contact him, or the information would go public.
This isn’t your everyday hack. The stolen records allegedly came from a massive breach earlier this year, where hackers compromised Snowflake, a cloud storage company, gaining access to personal phone data of nearly all AT&T customers. Though Wagenius didn’t carry out the original hack, authorities believe he got his hands on the stolen data and tried to extort AT&T for ransom.
Wagenius was hit with multiple charges, including the illegal transfer of confidential records. Though it’s unclear if AT&T paid the ransom, the situation has raised serious concerns about cybersecurity and the lengths hackers will go to for a payout.
Now, as federal prosecutors push for Wagenius’ extradition to Washington, the investigation continues, shedding light on the complex world of cybercrime and the threats that come with it. Stay tuned as this case develops!