Cyber Crime : Computer Hacking

Singapore's Computer Misuse Act 1993 regulates the laws on the prohibition of Computer Hacking. Below are some interesting cases for your knowledge, all from Singapore.

In PP v Muhammad Nuzahan b Kamal [2000] 1 SLR 34; the Defendant was charged for hacking into a system. The High Court of Singapore imposed a stiff penalty of 2 months imprisonment for 2 offences that the Defendant was charged for. The earlier punishment of probation imposed by the Magistrate in Singapore was overturned as the High Court viewed computer hacking to be a very serious crime which can undermine the effectiveness of the entire Information Technology Industry in Singapore. In fact the Judge, Yong Pung How CJ is quoted in the Judgment to say:-

“Policy considerations, the far fetching effects which the offences have on the public interest if their pervasion is not halted at an early stage, and the seriousness with which Parliament views cyber-crime, all mandated the imposition of custodial sentence”

The same Judge decided another case – Lim Siong Khee v PP [2001] 2 SLR 342, where a spurned lover accessed his former lover’s e-mail address and send e-mails from that e-mail address pretending to sign off as the lady; to 3 of her friends. The e-mail contained intimate details of their earlier relationship and their holiday in Europe.

Yong CJ dismissed the Appellant’s contention that he had her consent to access her e-mail and to sent those e-mails. His Lordship felt that even in the event consent was given to him, it was still immaterial as the consent (if given) was merely to access the e-mail and does not translate into authority to send the lurid e-mails. His Lordship was quoted to say:-

“…even if Mr Lim (the Appellant) was given Ms Chong’s (the ex-lover) password to help her access her e-mail while they were in Europe, he had no authority whatsoever to access that account to send off lurid e-mails or to check her personal movements and affairs.”

In another Singapore case, Navaseelan Balasingam v PP [2007] 1 SLR 767, the Appelant Navaseelan appealed against the sentence. He was guilty of using counterfeit ATM cards to fraudulently withdraw money from ATM machines. His Lordship, Tay Yong Kwang J, was quoted in his Judgment to say:-

“As I have stated, the security of Singapore’s financial institution and protection of public interest against electronical financial scams are paramount…”

The Appellant was eventually sentenced to 7 ½ years imprisonment.

The principles from these cases should be welcomed and adopted in Malaysia. As we embrace IT usage in our daily routine, the sanctity and safety of IT related machines/software must be guarded. The theme to protect public interest and to ensure people continue to trust IT is prevalent in the cases above. Malaysian Court too, in the event these type of cases are brought there; must quickly stamp their mark and ensure future IT scammers and fraudsters will be driven away.

In Malaysia our Computer Crimes Act 1997 is similar to the Computer Misuse Act of Singapore. We blogged about the Computer Crime Act before.

Note : RWL wishes to thank Mr Foong Cheng Leong who conducted research on this area and provided the 3 said cases for our continued series on Cyber Crime. His comments were also taken into account before we blogged this. You may visit his Blog at www.xes.cx