A regular air force member was given an 11-month jail sentence on Wednesday ( May 15 ) for stealing women’s social media login information to obtain intimate photos of them.
K Eshwaran, 26, pleaded guilty to 10 claims under the Computer Misuse Act. Another 21 claims were considered for punishment.
From 2019 to 2023, he sent hacking references to 22 patients to obtain signup certificates for their social media, sky site and email accounts.
Eshwaran targeted sufferers who he knew in person, or victims whose personal photos had been posted to an adult community, according to the prosecution.
Given the physical component of his crimes, the prosecutors requested that all of his victims ‘ identities be protected by a court order.
According to the prosecution, Eshwaran posed as a “helpful netizen” and would phishing links to victims by sending a message claiming their sensual photos had been posted online.
He may involve a screenshot that purportedly contained a physical description and was typically taken from a sexual website.
In some cases, he attempted to gain access to a victim’s accounts using trial and error by using a website to make possible username qualifications based on a murderer’s social media details.
Once inside the records, he would search through them to see if the subjects had stored any personal pictures of themselves, which he wanted for his own sexual pleasure.
In the case of one feminine victim, Eshwaran was aware of her desire to have access to those images after she had participated in modeling shoots where she had donned clothing or other clothing.
More than once, he even gained illegal access to female’s social media accounts. The accounts holder would then be impersonated, and he would call women who he believed shared personal relationships with to request personal photos.
Eshwaran continued to reoffend in 2023, even though he was still on loan and still being looked into for his earlier hacking problems.
In January of that year, he unauthorized access to the early-20s woman’s Instagram and Snapchat transactions.
He continued to phishing link her after discovering her personal photos in her Snapchat profile to gain access to her other virtual accounts.
Eshwaran’s house was credited with providing the account’s illegal access, in this and other cases.
His victims also reported to the police after discovering that their records had been compromised or that they had been phished.
The prosecutors sought 11 to 16 weeks ‘ jail. Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Phang argued that Eshwaran’s crimes were deliberate and powerful.
According to Mr. Phang, the crimes required the use of hacking tools that were difficult to find and that were not generally known.
Eshwaran was a first-time offender, according to defense attorney Mervyn Tan of Anthony Law Corporation, and his crimes were” an action of evil, harmful though it may be.”
He claimed to the jury that Eshwaran was a typical expert in the Republic of Singapore Air Force.
Mr. Tan asked District Judge Wong Peck to consider this as a limiting factor because he predicted that Eshwaran would probably experience specialist consequences as a result of his crimes.
He also said that Eshwaran’s home had” come up” after his crimes, and that his relatives had “taken him to task”.
The judge agreed with the lawyer’s punishment position and said there were far more exacerbating than limiting factors in Eshwaran’s do.
After the judge granted his demand for a delay, Eshwaran will begin serving his sentence on June 19.
Mr. Tan informed the court that Eshwaran’s family had just given birth in May, and that he needed to take time to resolve her private matters and assist her with labor.
CNA has contacted the Ministry of Defense to find out whether Eshwaran is currently employed and whether he is subject to any disciplinary action.