More details about the Mobile Guardian saga has been revealed in today’s Parliament sitting.
And yes, to all students who are watching unlimited number of YouTube videos: Mobile Guardian is certainly not coming back.
But another app is coming.
Here’s what is being revealed today by Education Minister Chan Chun Sing.
Legal Action and Cybersecurity Breach
Mr Chan shared in Parliament that legal action has been taken against contractors involved in the Mobile Guardian incidents in 2024. He confirmed that around 13,000 devices were impacted, with one in six losing some data due to a cybersecurity breach in August.
He assured that most data was recovered, though a small percentage couldn’t be restored due to lack of backups.
MOE is now exploring options for a replacement device management app (DMA), aiming to have it ready by the new school year. In the meantime, schools are using interim measures to ensure devices are used responsibly. These include enabling web filters on Chromebooks and providing instructions for parents to activate parental controls on iPads through the Parent Gateway.
So, what happened?
Timeline of Event
There were two key incidents related to Mobile Guardian in 2024 that affected students.
If you want to, you can watch this video:
The first occurred on 30 July, affecting over 1,000 students across five secondary schools. This was due to a configuration mistake made by Mobile Guardian.
The second incident on August 4 was a global cybersecurity breach that wiped out data from 13,000 devices. This incident impacted about 8% of devices in secondary schools across Singapore.
To control the situation, Mobile Guardian immediately shut down its servers, and MOE swiftly removed the app from all devices the next day.
Over 300 IT engineers were sent to help students restore their devices. Mr Chan emphasized that the priority was to support those sitting for national exams.
While students regained access to their devices, MOE made sure learning continued by providing hardcopy resources. Deadlines were extended, and exams were postponed where necessary. Students could also access the Singapore Student Learning Space, an online platform with learning resources.
Mr Chan also mentioned the ministry’s appreciation for the public member who flagged a potential vulnerability in May. Though the issue couldn’t be replicated at the time, it pointed to poor password management at Mobile Guardian, leading to a hack earlier in April.
After investigating, MOE found that Mobile Guardian had poor password practices. The company was required to strengthen security, but new vulnerabilities were uncovered just before the July and August incidents.
Mr Chan stated that contractors are expected to continually improve their security systems to avoid such breaches in the future. However, he emphasized that these incidents shouldn’t deter the use of technology in education. “We must embrace EdTech… so our students grow up to be digitally savvy,” he said.
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