Suspected "Messiah" hacker charged in court

StarshipTroopers · Nov 12, 2013

Updated: 11/12/2013 09:56 | By Channel NewsAsia

Suspected "Messiah" hacker charged in court

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean who allegedly goes by the moniker "The Messiah" has been charged with hacking Ang Mo Kio Town Council's website.

James Raj Arokiasamy is accused of doing so from a unit in Dorchester Apartment at Jalan Sri Hartamas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 28 at about 1.35pm.

He is said to have committed the offence by accessing the content management system of the town council and modifying the contents by adding the image of a Guy Fawkes mask to the website.

James Raj is also said to have added a banner with the text: "I have been to various sites and seen how they take the initiative to secure their systems. You have a brain & you have money. You had a choice. Don't blame external factors (Anonymous) for this hack. The Messiah :wink:

".

He also allegedly added a banner with a text stating that Member of Parliament Ang Hin Kee would like to resign from his post.

Police said he acted alone, and is behind the recent spate of hacking incidents, including websites belonging to City Harvest Church's co-founder Sun Ho, The Straits Times blog and the People's Action Party Community Foundation.

Besides one charge under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, James Raj also faces three prior drug charges, which have been amended. He is accused of consuming drugs on May 25, 2011.

Earlier in court, the prosecution applied for the accused to be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric evaluation. It also asked for him to be further remanded thereafter to help with police investigations.

The prosecution said James Raj had told the police that he suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, borderline disorder and has suicidal tendencies.

But later on Tuesday, the accused denied this, saying the police took his words "out of context".

The prosecution added that since investigations are still in the preliminary stages, no access should be granted to third parties.

This request was met with strong objections by James Raj's lawyer, Mr M Ravi, who argued that so far, he has not had access to his client.

He said such access should be granted after the accused is held for 48 hours and that denial would be a breach of the constitution.

But the prosecution rebutted that under the law, an individual can be held as long as a 20-day period.

Mr Ravi also asked the court for permission to speak with his client for five minutes, which was denied.

If found guilty, the maximum punishment is a three-year jail term and a S$10,000 fine on the first conviction.

On a second or subsequent conviction, the maximum sentence is five years' jail and a S$20,000 fine.

For consuming drugs, James Raj is looking at 10 years' jail and a S$20,000 fine on each count.

The case will be mentioned again on November 26. - CNA/nd/al/gn

StarshipTroopers · Nov 12, 2013

Suspected 'Messiah' hacker charged in Singapore; 5 others rounded up for hitting govt sites

Summary: A man reportedly linked to Anonymous and a string of recent cyberattacks has been charged. 5 other suspects are in custody over the hacking of the official sites of Singapore's prime minister and president.

By Ryan Huang |November 12, 2013 -- 04:16 GMT (12:16 SGT)

The man alleged to have hacked Singapore sites under the moniker "The Messiah" has been arrested by police, according to newsdaily Straits Times.

How PMO site was "hacked"

According to Trend Micro, the attack was a result of typical Cross Site Scripting (XSS) where the cybercriminal exploited the "search" function on the site, and injected content from external sources.

The cybercriminal had redirected the URL to the criminal's intended image.

Exploited URL was then broadcast across various social networking sites implying that the PMO website has been defaced.

With the exploited link referencing the official URL, unsuspecting visitors were tricked into thinking that the exploited link was a real defaced-PMO website.

Singapore police arrested James Raj Arokiasamy, 35, who was charged in court on Tuesday for hacking the site of Ang Mo Kio Town Council.

Raj is accused of hacking the town council's site from a unit in Dorchester Apartment at Jalan Sri Hartamas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 28 at about 1.35pm, according to Channel NewsAsia. He had allegedly defaced the site with an image of a Guy Fawkes mask and a message signing off as "The Messiah".

He is also suspected of hacking the sites belonging to The Straits Times, People's Action Party Community Foundation and City Harvest Church's co-founder and musician Sun Ho, according to a police statement.

He faces up to three years in jail and a S$10,000 (US$8,011) fine for one charge under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act. Separately, Raj also has been accused of three prior drug charges, which could add up to 10 years in jail and a S$20,000 (US$16,022) fine on each count.

According to Today. the prosecution asked that Raj be remanded in the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for a psychiatric evaluation after he told the court that he was taking medication for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), had borderline personality disorder, suffered from depression, suicidal tendencies and hallucinations.

Raj was arrested by Malaysian police on November 4, and brought back to Singapore and charged for drug related offences the next day. The court then granted a one-week remand for further invetigation.

Other suspects rounded up for PMO, Istana attacks

Police also have in custody five suspects who are assisting in investigations into the hacking of Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Istana websites, according to the Straits Times. It added three suspects in the incident related to the hacking of the PMO site were family members. The other two suspects in the incident involving the presidential Istana site were Facebook friends. The men were aged between 17 and 45, added the article.

The three hacking incidents currently appear to be unrelated, police said in its statement.

Last week, the PMO and Istana sites were defaced a day after Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pledged to "spare no effort" to "track down" hackers who targeted Singapore's IT infrastructure. He was responding to earlier threats by a hacker called "The Messiah", who claimed to be part of the Anonymous group and posted a YouTube video in protest of the Singapore government's online media licensing rule.

StarshipTroopers · Nov 12, 2013

http://therealsingapore.com/content/messiah-actually-group-singaporeans

StarshipTroopers · Nov 12, 2013

Photo Gallery

http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/singapore-arrests-man-investigates-others-over-hacker-attacks

Flake · Nov 12, 2013

Published: Tuesday November 12, 2013 MYT 5:26:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday November 12, 2013 MYT 5:28:57 PM

Malaysian police help nab Singaporean "The Messiah" who hacked Singaporean government website

BY TAN YI LIANG

PETALING JAYA: A Singaporean hacker calling himself the "The Messiah" was arrested in Kuala Lumpur last Monday for hacking into a Singaporean government website over two weeks ago - from a Kuala Lumpur apartment.

He was charged in a Singaporean court on Tuesday.

Singaporean police tipped of their Malaysian counterparts who swooped in on "The Messiah", 35-year-old James Raj Arokiasamy, in Dorchester Apartments in Sri Hartamas on Nov 4.

James Raj, who had been on the run over three drug offences allegedly committed in 2011, was handed over to the Singaporean police on Nov 5.

On Tuesday he was charged for hacking into the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website on Oct 28 as well as for the drug offences.

If found guilty of the charges under Singapore's Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, he could be fined up to $10,000 and jailed up to three years, or both.

James Raj, who is currently being remanded at the Institute of Mental Health is also believed to be involved in other cyber intrusions, including that of The Straits Times’ blog site and the People’s Action Party (PAP) Community Foundation and City Harvest Church’s co-founder Ho Yeow Sun’s websites.

Singapore’s The Business Times reported that James Raj had been remanded for two weeks beginning Tuesday for psychiatric evaluation after he disclosed he had been prescribed Ritalin for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), borderline personality disorder, suicidal tendencies and depression.

He was told to turn up in court on Nov 26.

According to the Straits Times on Nov 2, Singapore went on high alert after an attack on a blog on The Straits Times website in the early hours of Nov 1 and a video uploaded by Anonymous on Oct 31 on YouTube.

Anonymous referred to "The Messiah" and three hacking attacks - on the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website, the PAP Community Foundation website and Sun's official website in the video which ran for three minutes and 42 seconds.

Sinkie · Nov 13, 2013

Walan...if James Raj looks like Brad Pitt, the Messiah will incite a large following.

Flake · Nov 14, 2013

"The Messiah" unmasked

November 12, 2013 - 12:26pm

By: The New Paper

The "Messiah" has been unmasked.

He's a 35-year-old Singaporean who was arrested on Nov 4 for a series of hacking incidents. He was also wanted by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) for outstanding drug-related offences in Singapore.

James Raj Arokiasamy, was tracked down in Malaysia with the help of the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), and brought back to Singapore the next day. He is to be charged in Court today.

Raj is alleged to be behind the hacking incidents into the the Straits Times Blog, City Harvest Church co-founder Sun Ho's website, Ang Mo Kio Town Council and the People's Action Community Foundation (PCF) websites. He is believed to have operated alone and is not connected to other recent hacking incidents.

A Police statement said separately five Singaporean men aged between 17 and 45 have been identified as suspects behind the alleged "hacking" into the Prime Minister's Office and Istana websites. The five are currently assisting Police in investigations.

Flake · Nov 15, 2013

11/15/2013 10:00 | By 938LIVE

Suspected hacker James Raj back in court

James Raj is back in court after his lawyer challenged a district judge’s decision denying him access to his client.

SINGAPORE : Suspected hacker James Raj Arokiasamy, who goes by the name 'The Messiah' was back in court on Friday.

According to a TODAY newspaper report, this comes after his lawyer M Ravi challenged a district judge's decision denying him access to his client.

The 35-year-old Singaporean was arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police earlier this month.

He was handed over to the Singapore Police the next day, and has been in police custody since then.

He was charged on Tuesday for hacking the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website from a computer in Kuala Lumpur.

He is also suspected of carrying out hacking attacks on websites including that of City Harvest Church co-founder Sun Ho and the People's Action Party Community Foundation

- 938LIVE/DL

houses · Nov 16, 2013

chao keling

lianbeng · Nov 17, 2013

lianbeng sentenced the hacker to be hacked into pieces to feed stray dogs! :biggrin:

andrewteo · Nov 17, 2013

Ah neh likely a fan of the old movie 'war games' by Matthew Broderick.

Flake · Nov 18, 2013

Alleged 'Messiah' hacker to claim trial

Apart from the cyber attack, the runaway drug offender - who had been in hiding since 2011 - also faces three charges for drug consumption committed then.

By Walter Sim,
The Straits Times | 18-11-13

SINGAPORE - James Raj Arokiasamy, the man accused of hacking into the website of a town council and signing off his alleged handiwork with "The Messiah" moniker, plans to fight the charge.

His lawyer M. Ravi said he will be claiming trial to the offence under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, but he has "no instructions yet" on the three other drug charges his client also faces.

This comes after the two men spoke to each other for the first time at the end of a High Court hearing Friday. The session was held to hear an urgent application filed by Mr Ravi to have access to his client, who is remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric evaluation.

James Raj, 35, is said to have signed off as "The Messiah" after he allegedly hacked into the Ang Mo Kio Town Council's website on Oct 28. Apart from the cyber attack, the runaway drug offender - who had been in hiding since 2011 - also faces three charges for drug consumption committed then.

In the application, Mr Ravi argued that Singapore citizens "should be entitled to at least a basic safeguard of having access to counsel within 48 hours of their arrest at the latest", if not immediately upon their request.

The debate centred on Article 9(3) of the Constitution, which reads: "Where a person is arrested, he shall be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of his arrest and shall be allowed to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice".

During the hearing, the defence and prosecution crossed swords over what would constitute a "reasonable time" before an accused is allowed to speak to his defence lawyer.

Mr Ravi argued that even "the most intelligent and educated requires the guiding hand of counsel at every step in the proceedings".

He added: "Without it, even if the accused person is not guilty, he would face the danger of conviction because he does not know how to establish his innocence."

Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan disagreed. "What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Where in the article is the word immediate?

"The case is a complex one and investigators will require time to carry out investigations into all the offences that he is alleged to have committed," he said.

Justice Choo Han Teck said he was not inclined to give a decision on the constitutional matter without due consideration, and told parties to file submissions.

"In the meantime, Mr Kannan, I don't think you'll object to Mr Ravi seeing his client for a few minutes in court." The DPP did not object.

According to the prosecution's submissions, James Raj is "reasonably suspected as having carried out a series of hacking incidents".

He is also suspected of creating the video threatening a wave of cyber attacks here to protest against licensing rules for news websites here.

He was nabbed in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 4, handed over to the police here the next day and charged in court on Tuesday.

A neighbour at his mother's home in Bukit Panjang said she last saw him more than three years ago. She did not want to be named. "I thought he married a Chinese woman."

The case will be heard again on Nov 26 at the Subordinate Courts.

KangTao · Nov 29, 2013

Accused hacker fit for trial: IMH

Lim Yan Liang
The Straits Times
Friday, Nov 29, 2013

SINGAPORE - James Raj Arokiasamy, the 35-year-old accused of hacking the website of Ang Mo Kio Town Council, is fit to stand trial, a court heard on Tuesday.

While he showed mild signs of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), his symptoms were not enough to fulfil the diagnostic criteria, said the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

The accused, who allegedly used the moniker "The Messiah", had told the police earlier he suffered from ADHD.

But on Tuesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tang Shangjun said James Raj had not been diagnosed with ADHD. He simply self-medicated with Ritalin after a psychologist friend in Kuala Lumpur told him he might have the illness.

Other than cannabis and sedative abuse, IMH concluded he did not suffer mental illness and was not of unsound mind, said the DPP.

James Raj was remanded at IMH for a fortnight, during which he had no access to third parties besides medical personnel. This included the police and his lawyer M. Ravi.

Mr Ravi on Tuesday asked the court to restrain the Prime Minister from making further comments on how the court would deal with hacking incidents seriously, saying it was damaging to his client.

DPP Tang said it was "wholly inappropriate for Mr Ravi to raise this point" as the Prime Minister commented in general and did not refer to any specific case.

District Judge Kessler Soh ordered that James Raj be remanded at "A" Division for another week pending investigations. The judge allowed him to confer with Mr Ravi after the proceedings were closed. The High Court will hear Mr Ravi's application for access to his client on Friday.

[email protected]

Lizzert · Nov 30, 2013

houses said:
chao keling

No lah, He is a NEHHSSIAH

lianbeng · Nov 30, 2013

lianbeng suggests: hack the hackers in front of Istana gate! :biggrin:

kill chicken warn monkey!

Untouchables · Dec 3, 2013

Updated: 12/03/2013 17:08 | By Channel NewsAsia

Alleged "Messiah" hacker faces additional drug charge

SINGAPORE: The man who allegedly goes by the moniker "The Messiah" and accused of compromising a town council's website faces an additional charge of drug consumption.

This brings the total number of drug consumption charges against James Raj Arokiasamy to four.

The 35-year-old is accused of using drugs between May 2011 and November 2013.

He also allegedly accessed the content management system of the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website and modified its contents without authorisation.

Besides allegedly adding an image of a Guy Fawkes mask to the website on October 28, 2013, James Raj is also said to have added texts and banners to the town council's website.

He is accused of doing so at about 1.35pm from an apartment in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

During the court session on Tuesday afternoon, the prosecution said investigations into potential charges are ongoing and objected to bail being set for the accused.

In its written submissions, the prosecution said James Raj is a flight risk, given that he had previously absconded whilst on police bail for the 2011 drug offences.

It added that the five charges are "all non-bailable offences".

The defence is expected to make submissions on the matter of bail on Wednesday, December 4. - CNA/gn

Gestapo · Dec 5, 2013

Singapore denies bail to 'Messiah' hacker

Updated 4 December 2013, 22:51 AEST

A Singaporean court has denied bail to a man charged with hacking a website linked to the Prime Minister.

A Singapore court has denied bail to a man charged with hacking the district website of the Prime Minister, using the symbol of international hacker group Anonymous.

35-year-old Singaporean James Raj was extradited from Malaysia and charged on November 12 with hacking the Ang Mo Kio district website, whose MPs include Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

He also posted the image of a Guy Fawkes mask used by Anonymous.

The alleged hacking took place three days before a self-proclaimed spokesperson for Anonymous appeared in a video on October 31 to demand the scrapping of a recent Singapore law requiring news websites to obtain annual licences.

According to court documents, he identified himself as "The Messiah", a name also used by a hacker targeting a reporter's blog in the pro-government Straits Times website on November 1.

District Judge Soh Tze Bian said Mr Raj posed a flight risk, because he previously jumped bail and fled to Malaysia after being charged with illegal drugs consumption in 2011.

Mr Raj has not yet commented on his links to Anonymous, an amorphous group of hackers.

Singapore's Internet licensing rules, which came into effect in June, have sparked anger among bloggers and activists who say they are designed to muzzle free expression.

The country strictly regulates the traditional media, but insists the recent rules do not impinge on Internet freedom.

Police have previously said Mr Raj was linked to other hacking attacks, including on the website of a charity associated with the ruling People's Action Party.

Other attacks

His alleged hacking was among a string of cyber attacks which have also targeted the websites of Premier Lee and President Tony Tan as well as pro-government media, in a row over Internet freedom in the city state.

Two Singaporean men have so far been charged with defacing the president's website.

Police have said that there are no links between Mr Raj and these suspects.

AFP

Flake · Dec 7, 2013

Alleged Messiah hacker 'a flight risk'

Lim Yan Liang
The Straits Times
Friday, Dec 06, 2013

Alleged "Messiah" hacker James Raj Arokiasamy should be denied bail - because the last time he was granted it, he fled to Malaysia, prosecutors argued Tuesday.

The 35-year-old had been out on police bail in 2011 pending analysis of his urine for drugs when he failed to report to the Central Narcotics Bureau as required, Deputy Public Prosecutor Wong Woon Kwong told the court.

Not only did he not answer the drug charges, he went on to live in Malaysia for more than two years with "no ostensible difficulty".

"Were it not for the efforts of the Royal Malaysian Police, the accused would still be on the run and safely out of reach from the arm of the law," the prosecution submitted, and said the accused "poses a clear flight risk". "Investigations are also ongoing into other offences that he may have committed while on the run."

A fresh drug charge was also levelled Tuesday against James Raj, who allegedly used the pseudonym "The Messiah" when he hacked into the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website on Oct 28.

It was alleged that he consumed a controlled drug on Nov 4, the day he was arrested by Malaysian police. He now faces four drug charges, on top of one under the Computer Misuse Act for the cyber intrusion.

DPP Wong told the court that the prosecution would be ready to accept a plea on the drug charges next week, while investigations into the cyber intrusion charge were still ongoing.

Previous submissions by the prosecution had said that James Raj was "reasonably suspected as having carried out a series of hacking incidents".

Gestapo · Jan 8, 2014

Updated: 01/07/2014 17:48 | By Channel NewsAsia

Alleged "Messiah" hacker rejects prosecution's drug charge offer

SINGAPORE: The man who allegedly goes by the moniker "The Messiah" and accused of compromising a town council's website rejected the prosecution's offer during a pre-trial conference on Tuesday.

The prosecution had offered to proceed on two of four drug consumption charges James Raj Arokiasamy is accused of.

The remaining two drug charges would be taken into consideration if he pleaded guilty.

No position was taken by the prosecution on the charge of him allegedly compromising the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website.

Defence lawyer M Ravi told the media that James Raj did not take up the offer.

Mr Ravi said the prosecution argued that James Raj's plea would not prejudice his client. But he explained that if James Raj were to do so, he would have antecedents.

Mr Ravi said this would then be prejudicial in other matters related to his client.

The 35-year-old James Raj faces four counts of using drugs between May 2011 and November 2013.

He also allegedly accessed the management system of the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website and modified its contents without authorisation.

Besides supposedly adding an image of a Guy Fawkes mask to the website on 28 October last year, James Raj is said to have added texts and banners to the website.

He is accused of doing so at about 1.35pm from an apartment in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while on the run from authorities for two-and-a-half years for his alleged drug charges.

On Tuesday, Mr Ravi also applied for James Raj's UOB savings card to be released so that his client can foot the legal fees. He said if this was allowed, it would indicate that the money in that account was honestly earned.

The result of this application is expected on Friday.

On 5 December, James Raj came under the spotlight again after authorities said information on close to 650 Standard Chartered's private banking clients were allegedly discovered in a laptop belonging to him.

Mr Ravi has said this matter, along with two other alleged hacking incidents involving the People’s Action Party Community Foundation website as well as the Straits Times website, are currently under investigation.

The case will be mentioned again on 10 February. - CNA/ec

Gestapo · Jan 11, 2014

Updated: 01/10/2014 21:22 | By Channel NewsAsia

AGC rejects alleged hacker's request for return of ATM card

SINGAPORE: The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has denied a request by James Raj Arokiasamy, the alleged hacker who goes by the moniker "the Messiah", to have his United Overseas Bank ATM card returned.

In a letter to his lawyers, the AGC said: "Investigations are currently ongoing in respect of the bank account linked to the ATM card in question."

Mr M Ravi, James Raj’s lawyer, had applied for the card to be returned so his client can foot the legal fees.

The 35-year-old suspected hacker faces four counts of using drugs between May 2011 and November 2013.

He also allegedly accessed the management system of the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website and modified its contents without authorisation. - CNA/gn

Suspected "Messiah" hacker charged in court

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