A 21-year-old hacker from Kosovo has been sentenced to 20 years in a U.S. prison after found guilty of passing on personal details of more than 1,000 American military and government personnel to the terrorist organization ISIS.
Ardit Ferizi pleaded guilty to charges of providing material supporting the terrorist organization, at a court hearing in Virginia.
Ferizi was arrested in Malaysia in October last year and was extradited to the US in January 2016. He used to work online with under a name Th3Dir3ctorY. He has been sentenced much higher than the 6-year term. Whereas his lawyer argued that he didn't do any real harm and is not a true supporter of the Islamic State.
“He was a nonsensical, misguided teenager who did not know what he was doing,” said public defender Elizabeth Mullin. “He has never embraced ISIL’s ideology.”
However, US Assistant Attorney General John Carlin has dismissed the defense lawyer's defense and described the attack as a dangerous threat to the national security.
While, the Islamic state had published the names that they received from the hacker.
He has admitted of hacking a private company and pulling out the names, email passwords and phone numbers of about 1,300 people with .gov and .mil addresses.
Both machines in US government offices and corporate computers were his targets.
Once after completing his sentence, Ferizi will be sent back to Kosovo and he won't be allowed to re-enter the US.
Ardit Ferizi pleaded guilty to charges of providing material supporting the terrorist organization, at a court hearing in Virginia.
Ferizi was arrested in Malaysia in October last year and was extradited to the US in January 2016. He used to work online with under a name Th3Dir3ctorY. He has been sentenced much higher than the 6-year term. Whereas his lawyer argued that he didn't do any real harm and is not a true supporter of the Islamic State.
“He was a nonsensical, misguided teenager who did not know what he was doing,” said public defender Elizabeth Mullin. “He has never embraced ISIL’s ideology.”
However, US Assistant Attorney General John Carlin has dismissed the defense lawyer's defense and described the attack as a dangerous threat to the national security.
While, the Islamic state had published the names that they received from the hacker.
He has admitted of hacking a private company and pulling out the names, email passwords and phone numbers of about 1,300 people with .gov and .mil addresses.
Both machines in US government offices and corporate computers were his targets.
Once after completing his sentence, Ferizi will be sent back to Kosovo and he won't be allowed to re-enter the US.