Isis-linked hacker arrested in Malaysia a computer whizz since 10

Ardit Ferizi (centre), a member of the Kosova Hackers Security, is detained under the Extradition Act 1992 while waiting to be extradited to the United States. – Pic courtesy of the Malaysian police, October 17, 2015.

The Kosovan hacker linked to militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) arrested by Malaysian authorities last month was a computer whizz who dabbled in computer programming and began hacking online systems at the age of 10, said a police counter-terrorism source.

The youth, identified as Ardit Ferizi, 20, had also been under house arrest in Kosovo prior to his acceptance at a Malaysian university in 2014.

“He had under house arrest for hacking offences. After he served the sentence he flew to Malaysia to further his studies here in computer science and computer forensics in Cyberjaya,” said a police source.

Ardit is now accused of hacking into the server of an American company and stealing the personal identity information of more than 1,000 people who were US service members and federal employees, which he then forwarded the information the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis).

At college, Ardit did not arouse suspicion as he looked like any other youth who spent a lot of time on the computer.

“He was an ordinary young man with good looks. Nothing offensive or out of ordinary with his behaviour. That was the scary part,” the source told The Malaysian Insider.

Malaysia's counter-terrorism unit was approached by the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) two months ago after the US government was informed about the security breach in its servers.

Malaysian authorities apparently only had Ardit's name to work with as other information was sketchy.

The source said they combed through a list of foreign students in the country and relied on intelligence work on the ground with local universities before tracing Ardit.

The Kosovan was captured on September 15 outside of his residence in Kuala Lumpur. Also seized was a laptop believed to be the one Ardit used to access US servers.

Ardit is said to be the leader of an internet hacking group called Kosova Hacker's Security, and was also known by the moniker “Th3Dir3ctorY”, said a press statement by the US Department of Justice.

He passed the stolen data to another Isis member called Junaid Hussain, also known as Abu Hussain al-Britani, who then posted the personal identification data online along with a threat against the officials concerned.

The threat, said the department's press statement, was issued on August 11 on Twitter with a link to a document.

The document warned that Isis was now “in your emails and computer systems, watching and recording your every move”.

“We have your names and addresses, 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!” the document stated, as quoted by the justice department in its press statement.

"This posting was intended to provide (Isis) supporters in the United States and elsewhere with the PII (personally identifiable information) belonging to the listed government employees for the purpose of encouraging terrorist attacks against those individuals," the justice department said.

Ardit was arrested under a provisional warrant of arrest issued by the Malaysian court and is currently detained under the Extradition Act 1992 while waiting to be extradited to the United States.

He faces charges of computer hacking and identity theft, and could be jailed for up to 35 years.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said Ardit's arrest was the result of close cooperation by Malaysian police and the FBI to tackle the transnational threat posed by Isis.

Malaysia has arrested more than 100 people this year with suspected links to Isis. Ten of these arrests were made in August, of which six people were members of Malaysian security forces.

- TMI