--- description: Malaysian authorities have arrested a hacker who allegedly provided ISIS with the private data of more than a thousand U.S. officials title: Hacker Suspected of Handing U.S. State Data to ISIS Arrested image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05ea6135bc054b92/69886891524fc042b7df50b8/rtx1lw6l.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Terrorism](/tag/terrorism/) ## Terrorism Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hacker Suspected of Handing U.S. State Data to ISIS Arrested in Malaysia ## Video: The Families ISIS Fighters Leave Behind [Watch (HLS stream): The Families ISIS Fighters Leave Behind](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3wE4zvGL.m3u8) (5:29)  _Published 2015-02-26. How the rivalry between ISIS & Al-Nusra is tearing families apart_ by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 16, 2015 8:01 AM CUT  Iraqi security forces hold an Islamist State flag which they pulled down at the University of Anbar, in Anbar province July 26, 2015 Iraqi security forces hold an Islamist State flag which they pulled down at the University of Anbar, in Anbar province July 26, 2015Reuters by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 16, 2015 8:01 AM CUT Malaysian authorities have arrested a hacker from Kosovo who allegedly provided the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria with the private information of more than a thousand U.S. security officials, [according to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice](http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/isil-linked-hacker-arrested-malaysia-us-charges "undefined") on Thursday night. The suspect, 20-year-old Ardit Ferizi, was living in Kuala Lumpur, where he had been studying computer science and forensics since August 2014\. Officials believe that he led a Kosovar hacking group called Kosovar Hackers Security (KHS), which knew him by the moniker Th3Dir3ctorY. Between June and August, the Department of Justice said, Ferizi gave Junaid Hussein, a prominent ISIS leader in Syria originally from the U.K., an unspecified volume of personal data he obtained by hacking a U.S. government server based in Phoenix. On Aug. 11, Hussein — who died in an air strike in the city of Raqqah later that month, [according to an affidavit](http://www.databreaches.net/wp-content/uploads/ferizi%5Fcomplaint%5Ffinal.pdf "undefined") — publicly shared a definitive 30-page document that listed the names, e-mail addresses and passwords, locations, and phone numbers of 1,351 U.S. military and government personnel. The document’s target audience was allegedly ISIS supporters in the U.S. who could use its information to locate and attack the individuals listed. “We are in your emails and computer systems, watching and recording your every move,” the document began. “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 case, U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said, is “a first of its kind.” [Malaysian police told Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/16/us-malaysia-islamic-state-idUSKCN0SA05R20151016?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm%5Fsource=twitter "undefined") that they would extradite Ferizi to the U.S., where he faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4076107/ardit-ferizi-kosovo-isis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4076107/ardit-ferizi-kosovo-isis/"},"headline":"Hacker Suspected of Handing U.S. State Data to ISIS Arrested in Malaysia","datePublished":"2015-10-16T08:01:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:51:20.422Z","description":"He will be extradited to the U.S., where he faces up to 35 years in prison","url":"https://time.com/4076107/ardit-ferizi-kosovo-isis/","keywords":["Terrorism","Syria","Hacking","ISIS","Malaysia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05ea6135bc054b92/69886891524fc042b7df50b8/rtx1lw6l.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05ea6135bc054b92/69886891524fc042b7df50b8/rtx1lw6l.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Iraqi security forces hold an Islamist State flag which they pulled down at the University of Anbar, in Anbar province","caption":"Iraqi security forces hold an Islamist State flag which they pulled down at the University of Anbar, in Anbar province","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/terrorism/","name":"Terrorism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4076107/ardit-ferizi-kosovo-isis/","name":"Hacker Suspected of Handing U.S. State Data to ISIS Arrested in Malaysia"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Families ISIS Fighters Leave Behind","description":"How the rivalry between ISIS & Al-Nusra is tearing families apart","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/3wE4zvGL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-26T00:36:47.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3wE4zvGL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4076107/ardit-ferizi-kosovo-isis/","duration":"PT5M29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4076107/ardit-ferizi-kosovo-isis/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```