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Thousands of Devices Wiped Remotely Following Mobile Guardian Hack 

Hackers targeted MDM firm Mobile Guardian and remotely wiped thousands of devices, but there is no evidence of data compromise.

Hackers have targeted UK-based mobile device management (MDM) company Mobile Guardian and remotely wiped thousands of devices.

According to the company, which specializes in MDM solutions for the education sector, it detected unauthorized access to its platform on August 4. 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. Instances in North America, Europe, and Singapore are impacted.

The exact number of affected devices is unknown, but Mobile Guardian described it as a ‘small percentage’. 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 attacker. 

The incident has caused significant disruptions in Singapore, with students being unable to access the applications and information stored on their iPads and Chromebooks. 

Singapore’s Ministry of Education says the Mobile Guardian application will be removed from all iPads and Chromebooks following this incident. 

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Written By

Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a managing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.

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