Businessman, student charged for Istana hacking
[UPDATED 29 November, 5:20pm: Details of court appearance of Melvin Teo added.]
Student Melvin Teo, 17, was charged in court on Friday afternoon over the alleged hacking of the official website of Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam.
Teo is accused of unauthorised modification of the contents of the Istana website, specifically for adding the phrase, "Patrick Tan for the win!".
Earlier in the day, businessman Delson Moo, 42, was also charged in court for unauthorised access and modification of the site.
He allegedly added to the site an image of a woman pointing her middle finger as well as an insulting Hokkien phrase.
Both Teo and Moo are out on bail, which was initially set at $10,000 for each. However, Moo's bail was raised to $20,000 as his request to travel on family holiday in December was granted.
Moo and Teo were arrested Thursday morning for the alleged hacking of the official website of Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam, police said that day.
In a statement in the afternoon, the police said that the two suspects will be charged in court on Friday for unauthorised modification of computer material under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act.
The offence carries a punishment of a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both.
The websites of the president and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong were compromised earlier this month. The hacking of Tan's website, however, had no indication of links to the Anonymous network.
A police report was lodged on 8 November by the web administrator of the website of Istana, the official residence of Tan.
Also earlier this month, a Singaporean man, James Raj Arokiasamy, was arrested and charged in court for defacing a portion of the Ang Mo Kio town council website.
Additional reporting by Jeanette Tan and Choo Yi Hung.
