US Arrests Hacker Behind ISIS-Related Cyber-Attacks

[Exterminator]

Content source

http://news.softpedia.com/news/us-arrests-hacker-behind-isis-related-cyber-attacks-494742.shtml

Ardit Ferizi, a Kosovo man, believed to be behind the US military and government personnel data breach
Malaysian law enforcement have arrested Ardit Ferizi, a Kosovo citizen, based on an arrest warrant issued by US authorities which suspect him to be the main person behind the ISIS data leaks.

Earlier in August, the Islamic State Hacking Division (also known as the CyberCaliphate) has published the personal details of over 1,351 U.S. military and government personnel, along with encouragements for group members to seek out these persons and kill them.

The US took this threat head on, and after a short investigation, US forces eventually killed the Hacking Division's leader, Junaid Hussain, in a drone strike at the end of August.

Despite being the leader of ISIS's cyber-army, at the time of its killing, many security experts were not convinced Hussain was the culprit behind the data breach, possessing very few technical skills to carry out such an elaborate attack.

Ferizi, not Junaid Hussain, was the real hacker
Now, according to more details contained in Ferizi's arrest warrant, US authorities reveal that they suspect him of carrying out the actual cyber-attack that led to the theft of data about US military and government personnel.

The US alleges that Ferizi hacked into the database of a US retail company, from where it stole the personally identifiable data of over 100,000 persons.

He later sorted out the data, extracting military and government-related entries, and transmitted to several prominent ISIS propagandists.

To do this, he used the @thedirectory Twitter handle, from which he maintained constant contact with numerous ISIS-liked accounts.

Ferizi was arrested while trying to travel back home to Kosovo, in the Kuala Lumpur airport, on September 15.

He moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August 2014 to study computer science.

Ferizi has a history in hacking, being accused of hacking a local news portal at the age of 15.

 

[upnorth]

This is extremly serious and I do hope this person is not just simply slapped on the wrist and gets for example a few years of data/internet restriction but instead gets extradited and locked up.