UK-based mobile device management (MDM) firm Mobile Guardian disclosed a hacker attack that affected users globally, including in the North America, European, and Singapore.
Mobile Guardian, a partner of ‘Google for Education’, offers device management across multiple platforms including Android, Windows, iOS, ChromeOS, and macOS. The platform provides schools with tools for device management, parental monitoring, secure web filtering, classroom management, and communications.
According to the company said it detected unauthorized access to its platform on August 4, 2024. In response to the intrusion, servers were shut down to contain the incident and prevent further disruption.
The incident involved unauthorized access to iOS and Chrome OS devices enrolled in the Mobile Guardian platform. The attackers’ motives are unclear, but they apparently unenrolled devices from the MDM platform and wiped them remotely.
The breach is still being investigated, but the company’s current statement on the incident says there is no evidence that the attackers gained access to user data.
While Mobile Guardian described the number of impacted users as a ‘small percentage of devices’, one of the impacted customers, Singapore’s Ministry of Education, said the devices of 13,000 students from 26 schools have been remotely wiped by the intruder.
Singapore’s Ministry of Education says the Mobile Guardian application will be removed from all iPads and Chromebooks following this incident.