IS militant server hacker will be extradited to US - IGP

The Islamic State (IS) computer server hacker will be extradited to United States of America after being detained by the police here for 15 days.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the suspect, 20, had entered the country in August to pursue studies in a private institution of higher learning here in the field of computer science and computer forensics.

"From our investigations, it was found that the suspect had communicated with one of the senior leaders of the IS militant group in Syria with the aim of hacking several computers which contain information on the American security forces before passing it on to the operations unit of the group for further action," he said in a statement on Thursday.

Khalid said initially the suspect was arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA).

Subsequently, he was arrested under the Provisional Warrant of Arrest issued by the court and now detained under the Extradition Act 1992 while awaiting extradition proceedings to the US.

"The arrest was the result of close cooperation between the police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in tackling the threat of terrorism, especially from the IS militant group which is cross-border in nature," he said.