Police in Malaysia have detained 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.
Ardit 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.
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 khilafah, who soon with the permission of Allah will strike at your necks in your own lands.”
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 Hamayun, who tweets under handle @Muslim_Sniper_D.
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.
“As alleged, Ardit Ferizi is a terrorist hacker who provided material support to [IS] by stealing the personally identifiable information of U.S. service members and federal employees and providing it to [IS] for use against those employees,” Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said after the arrest. “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 [IS]’s targeting of U.S. government employees.”
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.
