Hacker Who Aided ISIS Gets 20 Years In Prison

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Softpedia: Ardit Ferizi, aka Th3Dir3ctorY, 20, a citizen of Kosovo, will spend 20 years in a U.S. prison for providing material support to ISIS hackers by handing over data for 1,351 U.S. government employees. Ferizi obtained the data by hacking into a U.S. retail company on June 13, 2015. The hacker then filtered the stolen information and put aside records related to government officials, which he later handed over to Junaid Hussain, the then leader of the Islamic State Hacking Division (ISHD). Hussain then uploaded this information online, asking fellow ISIS members to seek out these individuals and execute lone wolf attacks. Because of this leak, the U.S. Army targeted and killed Hussain in a drone strike in Syria in August 2015. Before helping ISIS, Ferizi had a prodigious hacking career as the leader of Kosova Hacker's Security (KHS) hacking crew. He was arrested on October 6, 2015, at the international airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while trying to catch a flight back to Kosovo. Ferizi was in Kuala Lumpur studying computer science.

But at least his god loves him

[aliquis]

Because god hate trash, enjoyment, life and people and like everything which is bad and dull.

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[Opportunist]

So? He'd be the first person whose imaginary friend hates him.

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[aliquis]

The idea was to suggest god would love him because god supposedly is a complete ass-hole and want at-least the IS supporting Muslims to do bad stuff.

Re:But at least his god loves him

[Opportunist]

Every god in the history of mankind has always supported the ideas and actions of those that invented him. Gods and their "commandments" are by definition the mirror of the morals and ideals of the societies that create them.

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[aliquis]

Was supposed to be "love trash and hate" or something.. Hadn't really thought it through when I started typing for what it would contain.

World Police?

[innocent_white_lamb]

From Kosovo, arrested in Malaysia, and now jailed in the USA.

Is every justice system in the world subservient to the American system?

It seems more reasonable to return him to where he committed the crime (Kosovo?) and have him dealt with there, doesn't it?

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[Anonymous Coward]

That much is obvious. Less obvious is why this global security arrangement is not taught in schools? Why do we pretend the world is something else than what it actually is to our children?

Is there a reason behind the act of sugar coating the world affairs? To keep people happy and ignorant?

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[slashrio]

Look up: Edward Bernais (nephew of Freud).

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[yes-but-no]

The humans are of two types; One who control (type-1); the other who is controlled (type-2). All national boundaries or any other group formation is just to aid type-1. And yes, any information flow is to aid type-1. And yes all programming (of mind) is to aid type-1. Of course it aids type-1 to keep type-2 subservient and hence all system of information flow we have (schools, economy, even internet) exists to aid type-1 if you peel the onion.

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[William Robinson]

We have picked up thousands of terrorists from Pakistan, and placed them in Guantanamo bay. What is your point?

A terrorist does not care who is being killed. I would love to see entire world coming together against them as a single unit, and detain them/punish them under some new international law (making sure nationality, original place of crime etc do not become obstacles.). Otherwise we will be spending time debating norms and they will emerge as winner.

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[Anonymous Coward]

The system you speak of already exists; The ICC at The Hague. Curiously, the USA does not allow it's citizens to be subject to that system though.

One rule for some... another rule for others.

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[unixisc]

Actually, bigger problem w/ Europeans is that they tend to draw moral equivalencies b/w victims of terror and their perpetrators, in the name of being neutral in conflicts b/w the Israelis and their Jihadist enemies, or b/w the US and its Jihadist enemies. Which is why, if the US accidentally bombs a hospital in Kunduz treating Taliban fighters, that would be treated the same way as ISIS deliberately blowing up the Cedar Sinai Medical Center.

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[unixisc]

Jihadist enemies are there for a lot of countries, not just Israel, so you can get off that camel disguised as a high horse and educate yourself about what they do elsewhere. Aside from Israel, in this thread, I've pointed out how Kosovars/Albanians have issues w/ not just Serbs, but Macedonians as well. Sudan had a civil war that ended in South Sudan becoming a separate country. You have Boko Haram in Nigeria busy persecuting Christians wherever they can find them. Russia has its issues w/ the Chechens

Re: World Police?

[Anonymous Coward]

The opposite is more likely. It makes me anti-american and I think this guy should be behind bars for life.

The US cannot play both sides and still pretend to be good guys. The US is guilty of more than this guy by orders of magnitude but non-anericans have no standing and no way to seek justice.

I resent that. It is not acceptable, it will never be acceptable and people will always fight. That is what the US clearly aims for, endless war on other peoples soil to keep your military money flowing.

So this assho

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[johanw]

All empires eventually fall when the costs to maintain a huge military presence becomes unbearable. We've seen it happen many times, from ancient Persia and Rome to the 3rd Reich and the USSR. Some decay faster than others, but all do. The USA is just the next in line. It may take a few centuries but eventually they will fade into oblivion until a renaissance shakes them up and the cycle continues.

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[johanw]

Yes, and Rome was overrun by the Germans who were running for the huns. However, the US is doing well to create more and more wars to wear it down. While no single country might be able to defeat them in any forseeable future, eventually the US will topple under the combined and prolonged war industry.

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[Rakarra]

The Third Reich always had ambitions far beyond its capabilities. They didn't have the people or resources to pacify all of Europe and Russia and...

Their hope was the same as the Japanese -- they wanted to strike quickly and hope that appeasement sentiments from their opposition would allow them to legally retain the new borders they had just created.

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[unixisc]

Uh, the US had mostly disarmed and was pretty much minding its own business when 9/11 happened. So you can lose the sophistry about US policies causing the anti-US sentiments. It's usually a blend of Leftist and Muslim hatred against the US, and for that matter, everyone who's successful

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[johanw]

"Minding it's own buisiness" relative to WW2 you mean? They were still meddeling all over the globe. And a few thousands dead happens everywhere due to US "collateral damage", so who cares if a few thousand USAnians die in a heavily provoked reaction?

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[unixisc]

Let's look at after 1991 or 1992. Aside from the war in Kuwait - which, looking at back today, was a mistake, how many times did the US meddle against Muslim interests? In Yugoslavia, they either ignored the war - during the Bosnian war - or took the Muslim side - when Bill Clinton did his 'Wag the dog' operation. In the Israel-Pali conflict, a lot of pressure was put on Israel to make unilateral concessions, which Ehud Barak actually did. Aside from that, 1992-2000 was a decade of peace as far as the U

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[unixisc]

Uh, no! If anything, Bill Clinton's was the most anti-Israel administration, before Obama overtook it. He sent James Carville there to orchestrate Netenyahu's electoral defeat, and got Ehud Barak to concede everything that Arafat wanted. You might want to go back to Stormfront and get new Judeophobic material.

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[johanw]

In most parts of the world that is called "the least pro-Israel". Compared with others who blindly agreed with everything Israel did.

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[unixisc]

All Muslim countries agree that Israel shouldn't exist - a view shared on /. While other non-Muslim Third World countries don't have a strong opinion one way or another, but would be perfectly happy to fall in line w/ the Muslim view. What Bill Clinton managed to extract from Israel but not from Arafat was something just short of Israel signing off its existence once it endorsed the 'Right of Return' of refugees who had lived in other countries for 50+ years

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[unixisc]

When Bill Clinton was president, and busy either trying to engineer the electoral defeat of Netanyahu, and following that, get Ehud Barak to give Arafat EVERYTHING he wanted before the latter declined.

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[Rakarra]

If a country has land long enough enough, it becomes THEIRS. Full-stop. I don't give a shit if your grandfather got kicked out of Israel, and you shouldn't either. You have less of a claim to it than the current Israelis do.

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[slashrio]

Maybe it would be a good plan to put the people that created them in Guantanamo, but not as staff.

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[unixisc]

Yeah, that's been one of the issues w/ US policy. Opposed to some Jihadi movements, like the Taliban, al Qaeda, ISIS, Hizbullah, while being supportive of Jihadi governments, like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar. It blows a hole in the war on terror argument. Which is why I prefer the alt Right, that recognizes ALL of Islam as the enemy!!!

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[unixisc]

Point is, Mr/Ms Jihadullah, that people who commit crimes against the US don't get a pass just b'cos they're in another country. Yeah, it would be nice if any country had that sort of overreach, but that would also behoove such countries to be as respectful of individual rights in the same way that the US is. But since they're not, somebody who violates US law can't be treated the same as someone who violates, say, Saudi or Iranian blasphemy laws or North Korean blasphemy laws against the Kims

Re:World Police?

[Zontar The Mindless]

He hacked into a US company and gave information about US citizens to an unfriendly power for the express purpose of hunting these people down and killing them. Kosovo was apparently content to let him keep flitting back and forth between there and KL indefinitely. The Malaysian authorities apparently weren't. He should be grateful to them for turning him over to the Americans. This means he'll very likely get to live to go home again eventually, instead of doing so in a casket, following an impromptu necktie party.

Why do you feel the need to make excuses for this character, anyhow?

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[slashrio]

He hacked into a US company

It's this 'US company' that actually put those government employees 'in harms way'.
What is a merchandise doing with data that can distinguish between government employees and others?
And why was that data not protected better?

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[Jzanu]

Government backed credit cards are easily identified. The office heads usually get them to simplify purchasing for custom needs on short notice, and some of the direct reports do as well. Seemingly those aren't the only cases. Of course all use is subject to review but the pay and job security is enough that outright theft by fraud isn't much of a problem.

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[slashrio]

Thanks for that clarification, I keep learning here on slashdot.
Got sensitive data? Delete it or protect it.
It gets leaked out? You're (partly) responsible.

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[JaredOfEuropa]

It gets leaked out? You're (partly) responsible.

Yes, but that in no way, shape or form gets the hacker a free pass. An open door does not grant you leave to come inside and make off with the TV

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[Zontar The Mindless]

And you shouldn't be able to yank someone from another part of the world anyway. That's unethical.

So... After I rob your house, if I can make it to the Canadian border without getting caught, I'm home free, and this is entirely ethical, right?

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[slashrio]

That's all true, but that company also shouldn't have had and kept that data on an insecure server.
Got sensitive data? Delete it or protect it.

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[johanw]

> The hacker shouldn't have gone to prison with such a pretty asshole.

Now deliver those NSA spies who hacked into many companies in my country extradited and go to prison for it. And since it seems the new policy of one of your presidential candidates, I suppose we let the US pay for their food too if they want any better than old bread and water.

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[johanw]

The Netherlands, where there was a break in at Gemalto, a company that makes gsm simcards and provides them with encryption codes.

And the concept of extradition is well established

[Sycraft-fu]

Happens all the time. If a person commits a crime against country A and they are in country B, country A may well ask country B to hand them over. If it happens or the details of it vary based off of the specific countries and their treaties, called extradition treaties. For example the US and North Korea? Ya not happening. There are no extradition treaties between those two, and the governments hate each other. so nobody is getting handed over. However EU nations? Extremely strong extradition treaties. If

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[unixisc]

Think he meant Kuala Lumpur - the other city mentioned in the summary. I don't like obscure abbreviations either, but this is one I've heard Malaysians use.

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[Zontar The Mindless]

Kuala Lumpur. I thought the context should have made it clear. Sorry if it wasn't so obvious.

Re: subservient justice?

[slashrio]

Is every justice system in the world subservient to the American system?

Yes, well, no, not *every*. For instance not North Korea, but (as a result, therefore) everybody seems to hate North Korea.
And of course North Korea will have not right (to nuclear weapons) to defend itself against 'the American System'.

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[johanw]

The Russians are doing pretty good as well. Snowden is still safe from being extradited. Now everyone is hating the Russians though.

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[unixisc]

So is Ecuador, where Assange is hiding

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[johanw]

Only because he is in their embassy in London and it would be bad form to bomb the London embassy. If he would live in Equador himself he would probably already have had an "accident".

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[Richard_at_work]

You realise that Kosovo fought a particularly bloody war of independence against Serbia in the 1990s after the breakup of Yugoslavia and, after a period of protectionism under UN administration, declared independence from Serbia in 2008 - that independence is recognised by 109 UN members, so it is not a pseudo-state, it is a state by recognition, and Serbia would most definitely want Kosovo back if it were to be allowed...

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[gtall]

Serbia wants Kosovo back to finish the job of depopulating it from Muslims and repopulating it with Serbs. Serbia thinks it will make their collective dick look bigger.

Muslims and Serbia

[unixisc]

Kosovo's people are the ones who have problems w/ not just Serbs, but Macedonians as well. It's not like Serbia is the lone bully there. Also, Serbia is expected to part w/ Kosovo on ethnic/religious grounds, but in the meantime, Serbs in Bosnia's Srpska region, which borders Serbia and who wanna join Serbia, can't b'cos the 'international community' is supportive of the Muslim peoples of the region - Albanians and Bosniaks.

Ironically, all the Jihadi attacks we've seen since 9/11 - had there been attack

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[unixisc]

Problem is that it's not bureaucrats in Brussels or Strasbourg who are getting raped or killed, but citizens in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and other places. I'd have no problems if Syrian refugees round up the Eurocrats in those 2 cities and possess them w/ their right hand, to use Quranic terminology.

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[Bearhouse]

Yes, except Kosovo is not a state...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

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[unixisc]

Excepting in the minds of Islamo-pandering cuntries (sic) in Western Europe and the US. Never mind that even the OIC doesn't recognize Kosovo as a state.

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[unixisc]

From Kosovo, arrested in Malaysia, and now jailed in the USA.

Is every justice system in the world subservient to the American system?

It seems more reasonable to return him to where he committed the crime (Kosovo?) and have him dealt with there, doesn't it?

Well, the internet being what it is, if one can cause Jihadi mayhem in the US sitting in Pristina or Kuala Lumpur, then what's so special about them that they shouldn't be brought to trial in an American court? Especially since what they did was not a violation of either 'Kosovar' law nor Malaysian law.

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[NewYork]

Due to bloom.bg/1O04ymn

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[Anonymous Coward]

This is reality, crimes have consequences

Not when committed by the US government.

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[Zontar The Mindless]

And of course the proper response to such crimes is to commit more crimes against more innocents in retaliation.

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[Cederic]

You have a better recommendation?

Just what should someone in Afghanistan do when a US drone strike kills her sister? Fucking celebrate?

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[Rakarra]

Yeah, but they "totally deserved it."

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[slashrio]

'meeting a drone' would have constituted extra-judicial killing. It's appalling that people here seem to condone that.
I bet you are also against president Duterte of some far-off Asian country extra-judicially killing drug traffickers because the judicial system just doesn't work?

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[Jzanu]

It would help your point if you knew the country - it's not hard to understand the Philippines and why Duerte gained power. His former province under his governorship became the one of the most attractive sites for new business because of increased security. Certainly there are issues with methods but the Phillipines is sovereign and it doesn't matter what a random person on the internet thinks of it.

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[slashrio]

My point?
My point is that the whole world seems to have problems with Duterte's death squads, in a souvereign country indeed, but don't blink an eye if Obama makes up his weekly kill list.
Of people in *other souvereign countries.

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[fnj]

'meeting a drone' would have constituted extra-judicial killing. It's appalling that people here seem to condone that.

Cut the shit, clown. If you engage in warfare against the people of my country, you're can be god damned sure my country is going to engage you in return. Hopefully with 1000 times the force.

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[Jzanu]

Just because it doesn't fit your primary school idea of war doesn't mean we must not address the actions of non-state actors threatening as a group the US and all allies, as well as in cases of Boko Haram and ISIS, etc. those targeting western civilization itself.

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[slashrio]

I think you're the clown that you want to put aside the legal protections that made it sure only the guilty get punished, and not everybody that is a suspect.
You are innocent until guilt is proven. Not 'guilty because some unknown government employee thinks you are', and then comes to kill you, family and friends included.

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[Rakarra]

This thread is going places.

Wish I hadn't already commented, this was a trolling well-constructed enough that it justifies +1, Funny.

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[Opportunist]

Great idea!

Erh... umm... where should I send the nuke?

20 years

[Anonymous Coward]

20 years is a little bit much for hacking, if I can say so myself.

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[NotAPK]

He definitely would have gotten less time for raping someone. And possible less time for murder, but that varies a lot.

I agree, 20 years seems disproportionate. I hope he can appeal.

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[quax]

Giving material support to ISIS? Seems a very appropriate sentence to me.

needs to be in a fpmita prison

[Joe_Dragon]

fpmita prison and he's lucky that it's not death row

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[Nemyst]

It's not fair to just look at the act in isolation. Hacking to piss someone off? Meh. Hacking to steal money? Bad, but not critical. Hacking for the specific purpose of getting people killed? Yeah, no, throw that fucking idiot in jail and I don't ever want to see him near computers again.

General Wesley Clark: ISIS created by U.S. Allies

[khz6955]

"ISIS got started through funding from our friends and allies... to fight to the death against Hezbollah." ref [ronpaulinstitute.org]

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[gtall]

Sheesh, after all this time you still don't get that everyone in the MidEast is chewing gum and walking at the same time. They all have multiple agendas. Calling something over there this or that in its entirety is simply Western hubris, i.e., if we think this way, everyone thinks this way.

The mess that's ISIS

[unixisc]

Actually, both are right. While ISIS is al Qaeda in Iraq, it's evolved to more than that, thanks to the West getting its hands dirty in the so called Arab Spring, and happily endorsing the toppling of Ben Ali, Mubaraq, Gadaffi and then Assad. While the first 3 went easily and the West made an assumption about these peacefully transitioning into pluralistic societies - none of which happened - in Syria's case, what resulted was a civil war, since there was no way the Alawites were gonna let the Sunnis co

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[Rakarra]

Quit trying to cover up the fact that Al Qaeda in Iraq rebounded from the surge because Obama cut-and-ran from Iraq

The US was required to leave Iraq via the agreement negotiated by President Bush. If the US had stayed, it would have broken the agreement and been a wholesale conquering of Iraq and reduction of it to US territory status, something that both Democratic and Republican administrations had vehemently denied was the goal.

And tell me, big shot. Just how long should the US have stayed in Iraq? Another 5 years? Another 10 years? Another 20 years? However long it took to attain an unattainable goal, the defeat of

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[Joe_Dragon]

and trump may of been the one to pull the switch on old sparky