A Kosovar hacker who allegedly released personal information on some 1,300 federal and military employees to the Islamic State group has been extradited to the U.S. to be tried on terrorism charges.
Ardit Ferizi, 20, was living in Malaysia in October when local police took him into custody for allegedly providing material support to a terrorist organization — ISIS — last year.
According to the indictment, Ferizi hacked into an online retailer’s database in June and stole records on more than 100,000 customers. From those records, he was able to cull personally identifiable information on 1,351 federal employees and active military personnel.
Ferizi provided this information to members of ISIS in August, who then posted the information online with a call for members to take action against those people, including perpetrating fraud using their personal information, as well as physical attacks.
A 30-page document posted online in August was accompanied by the following message:
“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.”
Federal investigators were able to follow a digital trail linking Ferizi with known terrorist Tariq Hamayun and two Arizona men who attempted an attack on attendees at the “Draw Mohammad Contest” held in Garland, Texas last year. Investigators leveraged this into an indictment, leading Malaysian officials to arrest Ferizi and extradite him to the U.S.
Ferizi appeared before a U.S. judge for the first time on Jan. 27, charged with computer hacking, identity theft and providing material support to a terrorist organization. If convicted, he faces up to 35 years in prison.
“As alleged, Ardit Ferizi is a terrorist hacker who provided material support to [ISIS] by stealing the personally identifiable information of U.S. service members and federal employees and providing it to [ISIS] for use against those employees,” Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said after the arrest in October. “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 [ISIS]’s targeting of U.S. government employees.”
