Police in Malaysia have arrested a Kosovo man alleged to have hacked into a U.S. company’s database and extracted records on more than 1,300 federal and military employees, which he then gave to members of the Islamic State terrorist group.
Ferizi, a member of the hacking group Kosova Hacker’s Security who goes by the name Th3Dir3ctorY online, was taken into custody on Oct. 15 on a provisional warrant for allegedly providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, as well as computer hacking and identity theft.
According to the indictment — unsealed on Oct. 15 — Ferizi was providing IS with stolen personally identifiable information on 1,351 service members and government employees from April 2015 to August. That information included names, emails and passwords, phone numbers and home addresses.
On Aug. 11, a member of the terrorist group tweeted a link to a 30-page document of the information, encouraging IS members in the U.S. to attack federal employees on the list.
“We have your names and addresses,” the document stated. “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
Investigators from the FBI were able to follow a digital trail from the two Arizona men who attacked the “Draw Mohammad Contest” in Garland, Texas earlier in the year to a known terrorist, Tariq
In April, Hamayun and Ferizi began communicating over Twitter, with Ferizi providing stolen credit card information on 67 individuals, including 27 Americans.
According to the FBI investigation, Ferizi then hacked into the database of an online retailer and exfiltrated records on about 100,000 people in June. He provided records on 1,351 military and federal employees to IS in August, which were then posted online with the call to action.
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office has asked the Malaysian authorities to extradite Ferizi to stand trial in the Eastern District of Virginia. If convicted, he faces a sentence of up to 35 years in prison.
Ferizi moved to Malaysia in early 2015 on a student visa and was studying at Limkokwing University prior to his arrest.
