The Malaysian authorities have charged a Kosovo man who hacked into the computer system of an American online retail company located in Phoenix, Arizona. It is believed that the hacker stole personal information of about 1,000 people, the Department of Justice said on Thursday. They also believe that the stolen information was handed to ISIS.
According to NBC, Ardit Ferizi, aka "Th3Dir3ctorY," a Kosovo citizen living in Malaysia, was brought into federal custody for what they believe is responsible for hacking into an online retailer, stealing personal information, and publishing a list of government employees. The complaint, filed by the US Attorney in Alexandria, Virgina, states that the information was used to make a list of 1,351 government employees, along with military personnel . The information was handed over to ISIS via its social media to encourage a terrorist attack against the U.S government personnel whose names and location were published.
Government officials say Ferizi was recently arrested and is expected to be extradited to Virginia for arraignment. The authorities also found out that after the information was collected, Abu Hussain Al Britani, master of social media effort by ISIS then, tweeted it out. At that time, the list was known as "Islamic State Hacktivist Division". Al Britani was then killed 13 days later by a U.S drone strike.
Al Britani was known for inspiring an attack on a prophet Mohammed in Texas, being in constant contact with 4 men in New York and New Jersey who expressed loyalty to ISIS, and were later taken into custody for giving material support to terrorism. Al Britani was also responsible for communicating with Usaama Rahim over the internet who was on his way to kill police in Boston but was shot dead by the joint efforts of the FBI and Boston Police.
It was later found out that when Al Britani tweeted the link to list, he wrote these words: "soon with the permission of Allah, will strike at your necks at your own lands."
U.S. Attorney Boente said on a press release, that they will investigate and prosecute these cyber-attacks to fullest extent of the law.
