Malaysian Police Arrest “Terrorist Hacker”

Police in Malaysia have arrested a young male “terrorist hacker”, wanted by Washington for allegedly stealing data related to more than a thousand US military and government personnel and providing the information to the Islamic State group.

 

Malaysian police said in a statement that the 20 year old man was arrested on September 15. He had arrived in the country last year to study computer science at a private university.

 

The US Department of Justice said in a statement on Thursday it was seeking the extradition of the man, which it identified as Kosovo citizen Ardit Ferizi, known by his hacking name "Th3Dir3ctorY."

 

"This case is a first of its kind and, with these charges, we seek to hold Ferizi accountable for his theft of this information and his role in ISIL’s targeting of US government employees," the statement quoted Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin saying, referring to the Islamic State group (IS).

 

The justice department of America stated in a report that they have dubbed Ferizi a “terrorist hacker”. He has submitted hacked data to an IS member who then posted a 30 page document on Twitter. This document consisted of the names, e-mail addresses, e-mail passwords, locations and phone numbers for approximately 1,351 US military and other government personnel.

 

The Twitter message read: “NEW: U.S. Military AND Government HACKED by the Islamic State Hacking Division!”

 

"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 (caliphate), who soon with the permission of Allah will strike at your necks in your own lands!” the document said, according to the justice department in America.

 

The statement added that the document was supposedly meant for IS supporters in the US and elsewhere to use the data belonging to the listed government employees for the purpose of encouraging terrorist attacks against those individuals.

 

If found guilty in the US, the hacker will face up to 35 years in jail.