6 men charged over alleged role in illegal cyber activities in S’pore; said to be linked to global syndicate

SINGAPORE — Six men were charged in court on Tuesday (Sept 10) over their alleged involvement in illegal cyber activities committed in Singapore.
The men comprise one Singaporean, 34, and five Chinese nationals aged between 32 and 42 years old, whom police said are believed to be linked to a global syndicate which conducts malicious cyber activities.
On Tuesday, the six men were handed the following charges for various offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1993:
The six men are in remand as investigations proceed. 
They will return to court on Sept 17.
In a media release jointly issued on Tuesday by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Internal Security Department (ISD), the authorities said they had conducted simultaneous raids at multiple residential locations islandwide on Monday.
The raids were carried out by 160 officers from the SPF’s Criminal Investigation Department, the Police Intelligence Department, the Special Operations Command, and the ISD.
The SPF and ISD said that the operation led to the arrest of the six men, who are believed to be linked to a global syndicate which conducts malicious cyber activities.
Electronic devices and cash were seized during the operation, they added.
A 42-year-old Chinese national was arrested at his residence, at a condominium along Bidadari Park Drive. The police statement did not identify those arrested by name.
He was found in possession of a laptop that contained credentials to access internet servers used by known hacker groups. 
Five laptops, six mobile phones, cash of more than S$24,000 and cryptocurrency worth approximately USD$850,000 (S$1.1 million) were also seized from him, said the authorities.
One 38-year-old Chinese national was arrested at his residence, at a condominium along Cairnhill Road. He was suspected of offering to purchase personally identifiable information that was believed to have been obtained through illegal means. 
The police seized one laptop, nine mobile phones and cash of S$465,000 from him.
Three Chinese nationals were arrested at their residence at a landed residential property along Mount Sinai Avenue.
Of the three, a 38-year-old man was found in possession of laptops containing data obtained without authorisation, such as personal information of persons outside Singapore and personally identifiable information relating to foreign internet service providers. 
Two laptops, three mobile phones, cash of more than S$52,000 and other foreign currency were seized from him, said the authorities.
One other 35-year-old man was found in possession of a laptop containing various computer hacking tools. He was suspected to have made preparations to conduct cyber-attacks, such as by exploiting vulnerabilities in internet servers.
Two laptops, four mobile phones, cash of more than S$2,600 and other foreign currency were seized from him.
The third man – a 32-year-old Chinese national – was found in possession of a laptop containing various specialised software to control malware. Three laptops and four mobile phones were seized from him.
One Singaporean – a 34-year-old male – was arrested at his residence at a Housing and Development Board (HDB) block along Hougang Avenue, for suspicion of abetting the offences in relation to the above illegal cyber activities.
The authorities said in Tuesday’s media release that all six men would be remanded for further investigations. 
The police will continue to investigate into their local network of contacts and the global syndicate to which they are linked, it added.
SPF and ISD said: “This is a significant operation as the individuals are suspected to be carrying out global malicious cyber operations from Singapore.”
“We have zero tolerance of the use of Singapore to conduct criminal activities, including illegal cyber activities. We will deal severely with perpetrators.”
If found guilty of knowingly causing a computer to perform any function for the purpose of securing unauthorised access to any programme or data held in the computer, the men could be fined up to S$5,000, or jailed for up to two years, or both, for a first conviction.
If found guilty of supplying or offering to supply any personal information about another person obtained in contravention of certain provisions of the Computer Misuse Act, the men could be fined up to S$10,000, or jailed for up to three years, or both, for a first conviction.