20-year-old Chicago man charged with writing code to spread ISIS propaganda

Thomas Osadzinski, a student at DePaul University in Chicago, is accused of writing a computer script to make ISIS propaganda more accessible to social media users.

U.S. authorities have arrested a 20-year-old Chicago man for allegedly writing computer code to help the Islamic State terrorist group spread propaganda.

Thomas Osadzinski, a student at DePaul University, is accused of writing a computer script to make ISIS propaganda more accessible to social media users. U.S. prosecutors charged Osadzinski with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist group.

A criminal complaint alleges Osadzinski shared the script and instructions on using it earlier this year with people he thought were ISIS supporters. Osadizinski told undercover FBI agents that he was in the process of creating a custom Gentoo Linux system that was solely to be used by ISIS members, according to the complaint.

Osadzinski made a brief appearance in court Tuesday and was ordered to be held without bond. His detention hearing is set for Friday.

Steve Greenberg, Osadzinski’s attorney, denied that his client had broken any laws.

“This is a young man who was acting lawfully,” Greenberg told CyberScoop in an email. “He is not writing code to support ISIS.  While we understand the government has to be vigilant, they have overreached here, and seek to criminalize religious beliefs and free speech.”

On a LinkedIn profile under Osadzinski’s name, the DePaul student lists a short stint earlier this year as a contractor doing “software testing” at cybersecurity company BlackBerry Cylance.

But a BlackBerry Cylance spokesperson told CyberScoop: “According to our records, this individual has never been an employee or contractor for Cylance.”

Osadzinski is studying computer science at DePaul, according to the LinkedIn profile.

“We can confirm that Thomas Osadzinski is currently enrolled at DePaul,” said Carol Hughes, a spokesperson for the university.  “We recognize the seriousness of the charges and would cooperate with authorities if contacted.”

This is the second time in a week that a resident of the Chicago area has been arrested for allegedly providing material support to ISIS. On Friday, the Justice Department announced the arrest of Jason Brown, 37, for allegedly trying to send money to an ISIS soldier in Syria.

You can read the full complaint against Osadzinski below.

UPDATED, 8:58 p.m, EDT: This story has been updated with a comment from BlackBerry Cylance. 

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6553865-Osadzinski-Complaint-Filed.html

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• The G7 tells industry to hurry up and prep for post-quantum encryption

Technology

• European parliament members call for slowdown of Serbia’s EU entry over spyware use

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

Threats

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

• Jail time for Maine child in 764 marks turning point in federal law enforcement

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure