Former Indian employee jailed in Singapore for deleting company servers, causing S$918,000 loss

SINGAPORE: A former employee, upset over his termination, accessed his ex-employer’s computer systems and deleted virtual servers, resulting in a loss of approximately S$918,000 (US$678,000).

Kandula Nagaraju, an Indian national, was sentenced on Monday (10 June) to two years and eight months in jail for unauthorized access to computer material.

As reported by Singapore state media CNA, the 39-year-old was employed by NCS, a Singapore-based information communication and technology services company and a subsidiary of Singtel Group.

His contract was terminated in October 2022 due to poor performance, with his last official working day being 16 November 2022.

Feeling aggrieved by his dismissal, Nagaraju accessed NCS’s computer test systems from India, using his laptop and former administrator credentials to delete 180 virtual servers.

Between November 2021 and October 2022, Nagaraju was part of a 20-member team managing the quality assurance (QA) computer system at NCS.

This system, consisting of about 180 virtual servers, was used to test new software and programs before launch. Importantly, no sensitive information was stored on these servers.

After returning to India, Nagaraju accessed the system unauthorizedly on six occasions between 6 January 6 and 17 January 2023.

Upon securing a new job, he came back to Singapore in February and rented a room with a former NCS colleague.

Using his colleague’s Wi-Fi network, he accessed NCS’s system again on 23 February 2023.

During these unauthorized accesses, Nagaraju tested and eventually executed a computer script designed to delete the virtual servers one by one.

He made a total of 13 unauthorized accesses in March 2023, culminating in the deletion of the servers on 18 and 19 March.

The following day, NCS’s team discovered the system was inaccessible and subsequently realized the servers had been deleted.

An internal investigation identified several IP addresses linked to the unauthorized access, leading to a police report filed on 11 April 2023.

The police seized Nagaraju’s laptop and found the script used for the deletions, which he had developed after searching Google for similar scripts.

“Human Oversight” blamed for former employee’s continued access

In response to queries from CNA, NCS stated that the incident was due to a “human oversight” as Nagaraju’s access to the standalone test environment was not terminated immediately after his departure.

Once the unauthorized access was discovered, NCS terminated all access and reported the incident to the police.

NCS assured that it has stringent processes and controls in place and will continue to enhance them to prevent such incidents.

The company emphasized its zero-tolerance policy towards wrongful conduct, expecting all personnel to act with integrity and honesty.