Kosovo 'Islamic State' Hacker's Family 'is Pro-American'

The father of Ardit Ferizi, who was arrested in Malaysia for allegedly breaking into a US company's computer system, taking the personal details of more than 1,300 US military and government staff and passing them to an Islamic State militant, admitted on Friday that his son had been in trouble for hacking before.

"It's true that since 15 years of age, my son has had problems with the police because he interfered in some internet sites in Kosovo, but I don't believe that he is such a genius as to endanger the national security of America," Naim Ferizi told BIRN.

He said that the family from the western Kosovo town of Gjakova was shocked by the arrest of Ardit Ferizi, who is accused by the US of being the leader of a hacking group called Kosova Hacker's Security.

"Today's news has terrified us as a family. My son may be a genius in computer science but he cannot get into the system of the most secure and democratic country in the world in order to take information," he said.

He also insisted that the family has no links with Islamic State but instead admires the US.

"We are a traditional Albanian family, educated, and we are pro the American state and we apply every year for the Green Card," he said.

The US justice department alleged on Thursday that Ardit Ferizi, also known by his hacking nickname Th3Dir3ctorY, unlawfully provided obtained information to Islamic State member Junaid Hussain, alias Abu Hussain al-Britani, between June and August 2015.

On August 11 this year, Hussain tweeted: "NEW: U.S. Military AND Government HACKED by the Islamic State Hacking Division!" with a hyperlink to a 30-page document. 

The document contained a threat to the US: "We are in your emails and computer systems, watching and...