Indian IT Manager Jailed In Singapore After 18,016 Court Files Put At Risk

A 42-year-old Indian IT manager has been sentenced to 28 weeks in prison in Singapore after allowing an acquaintance to remotely access his government-issued laptop, putting 18,016 State Courts files at risk of unauthorised access or theft.

Janarthanan Tamil Kovan pleaded guilty on Monday to charges under Singapore's Official Secrets Act for endangering documents belonging to the State Courts and the government. He also admitted to unlawfully modifying the government-managed laptop, while a third charge was taken into consideration.

The incident occurred on August 4, 2025, when Janarthanan was attempting to take a professional examination after his personal laptop developed a fault. He used his government-issued Lenovo ThinkPad to sit for an exam for certification as a certified information security manager offered by an international IT governance association.

When security restrictions on the government laptop prevented him from proceeding, Janarthanan sought help from an acquaintance, Hari Balan, whom he had previously contacted on WhatsApp about IT-related courses. Court documents cited by Channel News Asia said Balan was found to have an IP address in India.

Janarthanan then allowed Balan to establish a remote connection to the government laptop, despite rules prohibiting unauthorised access and modifications.

The laptop contained 18,016 State Courts files, including information about the judiciary's network infrastructure. All but one were classified as restricted and non-sensitive, while one document was classified as restricted and sensitive at a high level.

The files included login credentials, secret keys and details of the State Courts' network architecture. While they did not contain sensitive information relating to individual court cases, the information could potentially have been used to gain unauthorised access to systems containing confidential case material and judges' notes.

However, no documents were transferred during the remote-access session. Janarthanan later acknowledged in September 2025 that allowing the connection had compromised the security of the files because they could have been copied or stolen.

Janarthanan had been assigned to the State Courts in June 2024 while working as a service delivery manager with Lenovo PCCW Solutions. As an external IT vendor, he headed the State Courts' cloud system team, which managed several court systems and applications.

The Lenovo ThinkPad was a government-managed device subject to GovTech's acceptable use policy and Lenovo's internal regulations. Both prohibited unauthorized access and modifications.

The breach came to light on August 14, 2025, when a representative of the Singapore judiciary's Corporate Services Division filed a police report over the unauthorised installation of a remote desktop application. The Technology Crime Investigation Branch of Singapore's Criminal Investigation Department subsequently investigated Janarthanan.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Matthew Choo had sought seven to nine months' imprisonment, arguing that Janarthanan's role and access to sensitive information made the breach particularly serious.

Choo said Janarthanan, as the team leader of the State Courts' cloud system team, "ought to have known better" than to allow unauthorised access or modifications to the laptop. He also pointed to the irony that the breach occurred while Janarthanan was attempting to take an information security examination.