MOE gives Mobile Guardian the boot after cybersecurity breaches

SINGAPORE: The contract that Singapore’s Ministry of Education had with device management company Mobile Guardian has been terminated following two sizable cybersecurity breaches this year, CNA reported on Monday morning (Sept 9), citing a MOE source.

The ministry said early last month that it had been alerted by schools on Aug 4 concerning some students using iPads and Chromebooks as personal learning devices and who had been unable to access the information and apps on their devices.

After informing Mobile Guardian, the company carried out investigations. It discovered that due to a global cybersecurity breach, around 13,000 students in Singapore from 26 secondary schools had their devices wiped remotely by the perpetrator.

MOE added, however, that there had been no evidence that the perpetrator had accessed user files. The ministry then removed the Mobile Guardian Device Management Application from all iPads and Chromebooks as a precautionary measure.

“MOE is considering other mitigating measures to regulate device usage to support learning during this period,” it said at the time. The earlier cybersecurity issue occurred in April. One hundred and twenty-seven primary and secondary schools were affected by the breach.

MOE announced on April 19 that the names and e-mail addresses of parents and teachers were exposed due to the Mobile Guardian breach. The app fell victim to unauthorized access at its headquarters at the time.

Mobile Guardian helps parents manage their children’s personal learning device activities by giving them control over access to specific websites, applications, and screen time.

The MOE source also told CNA that the ministry is considering other options for parental controls.

Personal information from five primary and 122 secondary schools was leaked in the app breach, a cause for concern for approximately one-third of all Singapore’s primary and secondary educational institutions.

MOE filed a police report after the company alerted it to the breach on Apr 17.

The company is based in Surrey, Britain, and has operational bases in the United States and South Africa. It was appointed MOE’s official mobile device management services provider in November 2020.

The Mobile Guardian breaches are among the topics raised in Parliament set for Monday (Sept 9).

There are eight Members of Parliament who are raising questions concerning the issue, including one regarding the assistance offered to students affected by the breach, especially those with existing mental health conditions. /TISG

Read also: MOE: Parents’ & teachers’ names and e-mail addresses of 127 schools leaked after Mobile Guardian app breach

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