Singapore's Ministry of Defence refutes claims by hacker James Raj Arokiasamy of security breach

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) has publicly denounced the claims of a notorious Singaporean hacker, Mr James Raj Arokiasamy, popularly known as "the Messiah", who recently stated on the Plan B podcast that he had successfully breached the ministry's systems.

The allegations surfaced in a Plan B episode aired on Sept 6, where Mr James Raj alleged that he "hacked into Mindef and into a lot of government sectors." He further claimed that his actions brought embarrassment upon the Singaporean government.

However, the Ministry of Defence was quick to counter these accusations. In a Facebook post published on Monday, Mindef stated unequivocally: “This is untrue. Mindef’s systems were neither hacked nor compromised as claimed.”

The Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to cybersecurity, promising to "stay vigilant and maintain a stringent and proactive approach in detecting and defending against potential cyber threats".

Dzar Ismail, co-founder of Plan B, in a bid to distance the podcast from any potential legal issues, commented, "So like, just to cover our ass, Plan B does not make any claims as to the veracity of the stories told in the episode."

It's worth noting that this isn't Mr James Raj's first encounter with the law concerning hacking offenses. In 2013, he was implicated in the hacking of various notable Singaporean entities, such as the PAP Community Foundation, Ang Mo Kio Town Council, and City Harvest Church, among others.

The cyberattacks conducted by Raj between March and November 2013, primarily in Malaysia, saw many of the targeted websites defaced with taunts or threats.

His actions were so severe that the prosecution labelled it the most egregious case of hacking to be tried in Singaporean courts.

By 2015, Mr James Raj faced the consequences of his cyber crimes, receiving a 56-month prison sentence for computer misuse and drug consumption.