In the past year, telecommunication systems have been exposed to critical vulnerabilities, such as hackers accessing sensitive information. This led to an overall mistrust and increased risk to privacy, especially with many big companies falling prey to cyber-attacks. It seems that not only telecommunication networks but also federal authorities are now actively pursuing the breaches and charging strict penalties against them. Now, a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier has been arrested for being behind major breaches of AT&T and Verizon systems.
A 20-year-old Army soldier has been arrested for his link to hacking activities that compromised the systems of AT&T and Verizon
There has been an increased number of concerns regarding securing customer data in the telecommunication sector due to major breaches on account of cybersecurity gaps. As per a new report by KrebsonSecurity, a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier, Cameron John Wagenius, was arrested on December 20th close to an army base in Texas for his link to the Salt Typhoon hacking incident.
It is reported that even though the indictment documents do not give away any details on the hacking incident, Wagenius's mother, Alicia Roen, let the police know about her son's association with Connor Riley Moucka, who was an accomplice in the cybercrime. Moucka was apprehended back in October over accusations of stealing data from big companies by exploiting vulnerabilities in the cloud data company Snowflake, which these companies relied on for cloud data services. He, along with John Binns, was charged with stealing 50 billion AT&T user's text and call records.
The stolen data is said to have then been outsourced to other individuals, including John Wagenius. This could be the reason why he could not be directly linked to the serious hacking attempt on AT&T systems. Instead, he is facing charges for obtaining the information unlawfully and attempting to share the records. The arrest also highlights how cybercrime operations tend to work where stolen information is often shared and distributed across multiple networks, raising even deeper concerns regarding data theft and the potential risks it brings about.
It is further said that the chief research officer, Allison Nixon, played a major role in uncovering the cybercriminals and endured turmoil in the process. AT&T and Verizon faced immense pressure amidst the breach but have now put the concerns to rest by letting the community know about the successful removal of the Salt Typhoon hacking group and that the systems have now been secured.
