British company Mobile Guardian has acknowledged a cyber attack on its systems, resulting in unauthorized access to devices based on iOS and Chromeos, leading to temporary inaccessibility. In Singapore, the incident resulted in data deletion on 13,000 devices and the termination of the contract with the Ministry of Education.
Mobile Guardian is well-known for its solutions in device management, web filtering, and classroom activity monitoring tailored for the educational sector. The company stated that the attack only affected a small percentage of devices, causing them to be removed from the control system and resulting in data loss. Despite assurances of data safety, customers in Europe and North America are also potentially affected.
The Singapore Ministry of Education, a partner of Mobile Guardian since 2020, confirmed the data loss on 13,000 student devices. As a precautionary measure, the ministry has instructed the removal of the company’s software from school devices and is exploring alternative data protection methods.
In order to ensure the seamless operation of educational institutions, the Ministry has dispatched additional mobile IT teams to provide support to schools and students. The department emphasized that the incident has caused understandable concern and worry among students and their parents.
Both the Ministry of Education and Mobile Guardian have clarified that the cyber attack was unrelated to any system configuration issue. Representatives from Mobile Guardian and the Singapore Ministry of Education have pledged to take all necessary steps to rectify the aftermath of the incident and prevent similar occurrences in the future.