MDM vendor Mobile Guardian security incident leaves 13,000 devices wiped

Mobile Guardian has confirmed that a security incident involving unauthorized access to iOS and ChromeOS devices took place.

The UK-based mobile device management (MDM) vendor admitted that an incident took place on August 4. It affected iOS and ChromeOS devices managed by its tools and resulted in 13,000 devices in Singapore being remotely wiped. As a result, Singapore’s Education Ministry has cut ties with the vendor.

The vendor has advised customers that the August 4 attack “resulted in a small percentage of devices to be unenrolled from Mobile Guardian.” This presumably then led to remote wiping somehow and could leave customers in Europe and North America at risk too, as well as those in Singapore.

However, Mobile Guardian has also confirmed that “there is no evidence to suggest that the perpetrator had access to users’ data.”

Mobile Guardian specializes in device management in the education sector, offering services like web filtering and classroom management tools. Singapore’s Education Ministry has been a customer since 2020 but, since 13,000 of its students’ devices have been remotely wiped, has now cut ties with the vendor.

Considering young people’s safety is at the center of the company’s branding and services, this is a tricky situation for the company to navigate. What’s more, it suffered another unauthorized attack back in April, when names and email addresses of both parents and school staff from 127 Singaporean schools were revealed.

Mobile Guardian has confirmed that no data has been leaked in this instance. All services have currently been halted, according to the security incident page.

Of course, the vendor is not alone in such incidents, with the largest-ever password leak taking place just a few weeks ago.

Featured image: Mobile Guardian

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