U.S. Charges Man in Malaysia With Hacking, Aiding Islamic State
WASHINGTON—Federal prosecutors have charged a man in Malaysia with hacking the personal information of more than 1,000 U.S. military personnel and federal employees and giving that information to Islamic State terror group.
The suspect, a citizen of Kosovo named Ardit Ferizi, was detained in Malaysia based on a U.S. arrest warrant, officials said.
Officials say Mr. Ferizi called himself “Th3Dir3ctorY’’ online, and is the leader of a Kosovar Internet hacking group called Kosova Hacker’s Security. Prosecutors say he hacked into a corporate computer system in the U.S., stole data about Americans who worked for the government, including military personnel, and then gave it to Islamic State member Junaid Hussain, a hacker working for the group who was killed by an airstrike in August.
Assistant Attorney General John Carlin, who heads the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said the charges amounted to a first-of-its-kind case in which a hacker teamed up with a terror group to target Americans for violence.
“Ardit Ferizi is a terrorist hacker who provided material support to ISIL by stealing the personally identifiable information of U.S. service members and federal employees and providing it to ISIL for use against those employees,’’ said Mr. Carlin, using an alternate name for the group.
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