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2/4/2016 Hacker Claims He Gave FBI Info That Led To Killing Of ISIS Leader BuzzFeed News
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Hacker Claims He Gave FBI Info ThatLed To Killing Of ISIS LeaderAlleged ISIS cyber mastermind Junaid Hussain died in an August drone strike, andthis American hacker says he led the FBI to him.
posted on Nov. 23, 2015, at 8:14 p.m.
Joseph BernsteinBuzzFeed News Reporter
Junaid Hussain
In August 2014, a hacker who goes by the alias Shm00p walked into a Buffalo WildWings on the south side of Las Vegas to meet two FBI agents.
Less than a year later, Shm00p claims he gave those same agents information thathe is now “99.9% sure” led to the extrajudicial killing of Junaid Hussain, the British-Pakistani hacker who became notorious for his affiliation with ISIS.
If true, Shm00p’s story sheds new light on the federal government’s use ofinformants from the world of hacking to pursue ISIS militants, a group that has founda massive foothold online.
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2/4/2016 Hacker Claims He Gave FBI Info That Led To Killing Of ISIS Leader BuzzFeed News
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Shm00p, who lives in Las Vegas, told BuzzFeed News in a telephone interview thathe knew the Birmingham, England–born Hussain from their mutual affiliation withTeam Poison, a hacking group. Together, in 2012, Shm00p says the two “call-bombed” the U.K.’s anti-terrorism hotline. This was one of several crimes for whichHussain was jailed for six months in 2012.
Shm00p said that in 2014 or 2015, Hussain, who had fled to Syria in 2013, reachedout to him via Jabber, an encrypted chat service. According to Shm00p, he was ableto use these chats to determine Hussain’s location, information he then passed on tothe FBI. (Shm00p declined to elaborate on how he was able to determine Hussain’slocation via Jabber. ) He said that he was sure this information led to the eventualdrone strike that killed Hussain, but that he was also aware of others “workingagainst” Hussain, though he would not disclose how he knew this.
In late August of this year, U.S. officials told the New York Times that Hussain hadbeen killed in a drone strike near the Syrian city of Raqqa, ISIS’s defacto capital.
According to Shm00p, the FBI made initial contact in the summer of 2014 through afriend, who called him on the phone and told him that the agency planned to raidhim for unspecified activities unless he agreed to meet with them. Shm00p said heinitially declined to give the agents information about several trolling and hackinggroups, including Rustle League and Hack the Planet.
Several months later, however, he says FBI agents began asking about Hussain, whoby that point had grown to be one of the most infamous members of ISIS. Citingsecurity concerns, Shm00p eventually disclosed the information he had gatheredfrom his chats with Hussain.
“I’m not going to watch other hackers get arrested for bullshit,” he said. “Terroristsare a different story.”
Yet Shm00p’s work as an FBI informant wasn’t over. At the DefCon cybersecurityconference in August 2015, Shm00p said he wore a recording device in the Bally’shotel room of his friend Dillon C, a former hacker, after the FBI told Shm00p theybelieved Dillon C was assisting ISIS. Dillon C told BuzzFeed News that he had neverassisted ISIS, and that the FBI suspected him of helping the group because he wouldnot serve as an informant.
Via an email, the FBI declined to comment.
Earlier this month, Shm00p said he told the FBI he would no longer cooperate withits investigations, and on Sunday took to Twitter to express his anguish over servingas an informant.
“My experience working with them was a nightmare,” he said. “If you don’t do whatthey say, you will be under arrest. They will bring the hammer down on you. I’mpretty sure that’s what is going to happen. I’m ready to face my punishment; I’mready to accept what is going to happen. I hope that for anyone who gets caught bythem, lawyer the fuck up. They’ll do anything they can to you. They’ll do anythingthey can to fuck you.”
Shm00p would not disclose to BuzzFeed News what precipitated his decision tostop giving the FBI information, but he said that he regrets ever doing so. He did not,however, express regret for Hussain’s death due to what he believes was aconsequence of his actions.
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2/4/2016 Hacker Claims He Gave FBI Info That Led To Killing Of ISIS Leader BuzzFeed News
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Joe Bernstein is a senior technology reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in NewYork. Bernstein reports on and writes about the gaming industry and web culture.Contact Joseph Bernstein at [email protected].
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“He deserved it,” Shm00p said.
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