Indian techie jailed in Singapore for hacking ex-employer's server

Kandula Nagaraju, a former employee of NCS, was found guilty of executing a cyber-attack on the company's quality assurance system after being fired

A Singapore court has sentenced an Indian national to two years and six months in jail for hacking into the server of an IT major, from where he was fired earlier, reported Moneycontrol. 

Kandula Nagaraju, 39, was found guilty of carrying out the cyberattack, which led to the deletion of 180 virtual servers of NCS -- a prominent information communication and technology services provider. The attack caused his former employer nearly SGD 918,000 (Rs 5.66 crore) in damages. 

Nagaraju targeted the company’s quality assurance (QA) system after being fired, according to the news website.

Nagaraju was part of a 20-member team responsible for managing NCS’s QA system, which tested new software and programs. While the system did not contain sensitive information, its disruption led to severe operational and financial impacts, the report noted.

Nagaraju was dismissed in October 2022 for “poor performance”, with his employment officially ending on November 16, 2022, according to court documents cited by the report.

Feeling “confused and upset” by his dismissal, Nagaraju, unable to find immediate employment in Singapore, returned to India. There, he accessed NCS’s system without authorization using administrator credentials. Between January 6 and January 17, 2023, he accessed the system six times from India.

After securing a new job in February 2023, Nagaraju returned to Singapore and put up with a former NCS colleague. Using their Wi-Fi network, he accessed the system again on February 23, 2023. Then, Nagaraju experimented with computer scripts during the unauthorised access to test the company’s capability to delete servers.

Nagaraju accessed NCS's QA system 13 times in March 2023, culminating in a two-day damaging spree on March 18 and 19. During this period, he executed a programmed script to methodically delete 180 virtual servers, rendering the system inaccessible the following day and prompting NCS to start an internal investigation, the report claimed.

A police report was filed by April 11, 2023.

Investigations traced several IP addresses linked to the sabotage. Nagaraju's laptop was seized, uncovering the destructive script and evidence of Google searches on how to delete virtual servers.

Despite knowing he was not authorised to access the system post-termination, Nagaraju proceeded with his actions, causing a loss of SGD 917,832 to NCS.