IS hacker charged with stealing U.S. military data identified as Kosovo student Ardit Ferizi
Fri 16 Oct 2015
The Islamic State hacker detained at Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur, has been identified as 20-year-old Kosovo student Ardit Ferizi.
Ferizi, leader of the hacker squad ‘Kosovo Hacker’s Security’, was also known by his moniker ‘Th3Dir3ctorY.’ He was arrested following a provisional warrant from the U.S. Department of Justice, which accused Ferizi of providing materials to support IS operations.
The warrant also alleges that the Kosovo hacker executed computer attacks and committed theft violations, stealing the personally identifiable information (PII) of members of the U.S. military and federal employees. This information was then provided to IS to be used against U.S. defences.
Today the U.S. Department stated that ‘between June and August 2015, Ferizi provided unlawfully obtained PII to IS member Junaid Hussain, aka Abu Hussain al-Britani.’ The Department added that ‘this led to Hussain posting a tweet titled “NEW: U.S. Military AND Government HACKED by the Islamic State Hacking Division!” in the name of the IS Hacking Division (ISHD) on Aug 11.’
According to the statement, the tweet contained an attachment document which read:
“We are in your emails and computer systems, watching and recording your every move, we have your names and addresses, we are in your emails and social media accounts, we are extracting confidential data and passing on your personal information to the soldiers of the khilafah, who soon with the permission of Allah will strike at your necks in your own lands!”
The document also listed the names, email addresses, passwords, postal addresses and phone numbers of over 1,300 U.S. military and federal employees. The Department warned that the post was intended for the ‘purpose of encouraging terrorist attacks against those individuals.’
In addition to federal breaches, Ferizi has been accused of hacking the computer system of a leading U.S. company, and stealing further PII of thousands of customers.
The statement concluded that the Department is currently ‘seeking [Ferizi’s] extradition to the Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia to stand trial.’
