Hacker wipes 13,000 devices after breaching classroom management platform

A hacker has breached Mobile Guardian, a global digital classroom management platform, and remotely wiped data from at least 13,000 students’ iPads and Chromebooks. Mobile Guardian, a Google for Education partner, provides device management, parental controls, secure web filtering, and classroom communication tools for K-12 schools across Android, Windows, iOS, ChromeOS, and macOS platforms. On August 4, 2024, the platform reported unauthorized access that affected North American, European, and Singaporean instances. The breach is unrelated to a separate misconfiguration incident that caused an IT outage on July 30, 2024.
As a result of the attack, a small percentage of iOS and ChromeOS devices were remotely wiped and unenrolled from the platform. However, Mobile Guardian stated that there is no evidence of unauthorized access or exfiltration of users’ data.
The company acknowledged the breach in a formal announcement, emphasizing the limited scope of the attack and assuring users that their data remained secure. This incident highlights the need for enhanced security measures in platforms used for educational purposes, particularly those handling sensitive student data. Mobile Guardian has likely initiated steps to strengthen its security protocols in response to this breach.