A 20-year old man has been detained by police for trying to obtain information on American security forces. The hacker, who entered Malaysia from Kosovo under the pretext of furthering his studies was detained by Bukit Aman’s Special Branch Counter Terrorism officers.
Ardit Ferizi, hacked into the server of a company based in the United States and stole information about American soldiers. He then shared that information with Junaid Hussain, a former leading member of the CyberCaliphate. The CyberCaliphate were responsible for breaking into the United States Central Command’s Twitter and YouTube accounts this earlier year.
“We believe he was trying to hack classified information on American security forces. The information will then be channeled back to IS leaders for further action,” said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
It is believed that Ferizi was hoping that the information he sent to Hussain – who was killed by a drone strike in August – would be used to attack American soldiers.
Ferizi was detained on 15 September under the Security Offence (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and held until the courts issued a warrant for his arrest. The United States is seeking to have Ferizi extradite and face charges for providing material support to the Islamic State.
[Source: The New York Times, The Star]
