Hacker who called himself 'The Messiah' jailed 4 years and 8 months

By Ian Poh, The Straits Times, 31 Jan 2015

A HACKER who called himself "The Messiah" was jailed for four years and eight months yesterday, after pleading guilty last week to 39 charges of computer misuse.

James Raj Arokiasamy, 36, targeted computer servers of at least seven organisations in 2013, in what the prosecution called the most serious incident of hacking brought before a court here.

The websites he targeted included those of the PAP Community Foundation, Ang Mo Kio Town Council and three linked to City Harvest Church.

Many were defaced with taunts or threats.

He used software to scan various government servers, including those of the Prime Minister's Office and Elections Department.

He hacked a Straits Times blog, and illegally accessed a server that contained bank statements of Standard Chartered Bank clients.

Yesterday, Deputy Presiding Judge of the State Courts Jennifer Marie said James Raj had displayed "audacious bravado" in his acts, which had caused public alarm and fear.

More than 2,465 man-hours had been expended by the police to investigate the cyber attacks, the judge noted.

Pointing to James Raj's use of specialised software tools and his attempts to avoid detection, she said there was a high degree of premeditation, planning and sophistication.

James Raj discharged his lawyer, Mr M. Ravi, at the start of yesterday's proceedings.

Submitting an additional plea to the court, he contended that he had not acted maliciously.

But the judge agreed with the prosecution that his cyber intrusions were not amateurish nor committed naively.

"His intention... was to instil fear and trepidation," she said.

"Given the current climate where international and domestic terrorist security threats are more prevalent than before, a threat to the IT systems (and) cyber attacks in a highly networked country like Singapore should be visited with exemplary sentences."

James Raj also pleaded guilty to drug consumption.

A further 119 counts of computer misuse, and two other drug offences, were considered.

For each of his six proceeded counts of illegally modifying the contents of a computer system, James Raj could have been jailed for up to three years and fined up to $10,000.

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