The Ministry of Education (MOE) has taken legal action against the relevant contractors following the cyberattack on Mobile Guardian on Aug. 4, 2024, which affected about 13,000 secondary school students from 26 schools.
Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing was answering questions posed by Members of Parliament (MPs) on Mobile Guardian during a parliamentary session on Sep. 10.
Mobile Guardian is a device management application (DMA) that supports students as they learn to use their personal learning device (PLD) "safely and responsibly", Chan said.
Following the cyberattack, MOE has terminated its contract with Mobile Guardian.
Cyberattack
On Aug. 4, Mobile Guardian suffered a cyber attack which affected around 13,000 PLDs in Singapore's schools.
Mobile Guardian immediately shut down their servers as a precautionary measure, Chan said.
MOE embarked on the systemic removal of the Mobile Guardian app from all iPads and Chromebooks PLDs, he added.
Over 300 additional IT engineers and staff were deployed to schools to help students restore their devices, and students who wanted to troubleshoot their own devices were provided instruction sheets.
All devices have since been restored for use.
Schools providing emotional support to students
Chan explained that about one in six of the 13,000 affected PLDs lost some data, and less than 5 per cent were unable to recover all their data because their devices had not been backed up previously.
"During this period, schools made available hard-copy learning resources while supporting students who were emotionally affected," he said.
Chan added that assignment deadlines were extended, and weighted assessments were postponed where needed.
"It was most heartening to see many of students, many of our students, step forward and proactively share their personal notes with classmates and organise study sessions to do revision for their tests and exams."
In response to MP Gerald Giam's question on whether MOE backs up data in students' PLDs, Chan said there were two levels of backups — system level and individual level.
However, the system will not always be able to back up individual data, which is why a small percentage of students were unable to recover their data; they had not backed it up individually, he explained.
Reminder to keep systems safe
Chan said IT service providers are required to keep their systems and data safe.
MOE's forensic investigations into the incident on Aug. 4 found a new vulnerability in the Mobile Guardian system that could allow an individual to carry out the attack, Chan said.
"This is a timely reminder that cyber threats can evolve quickly," he said.
"While no security test can be entirely exhaustive, MOE expects its contractors to regularly assess and strengthen their systems' security posture."
To MP Tan Wu Meng's question on ensuring the same level of cybersecurity for all systems in Singapore, Chan said that it is not possible to defend everywhere with the same resources and the same level of focus.
"We will have to prioritise our resources to see where the most critical areas are that we need to defend and invest more resources in them," he said.
Options for alternative
MOE is currently studying options for an alternative DMA solution for iPad and Chromebook PLDs, Chan shared.
The new DMA solution is expected to be rolled out by the new school year in January 2025.
Until then, schools have instituted additional processes to ensure that the PLDs are used safely and responsibly during school hours, he said.
MOE has also activated web filtering through the Google Admin Console (GAC) for Chromebook PLDs and shared instructions to parents on how to activate Apple's built-in parental controls on iPads, Chan said.
Chan acknowledged that the recent spate of incidents was highly unfortunate but emphasised that technology must not deter us from delivering education through technology as it enriches students' learning experiences.
Reliance on technology
Regarding MP Christopher de Souza's concerns about possible overreliance on technology for learning, Chen said that we will have to learn to use technology in balance with the best pedagogical practices.
"That balance will continue to evolve as our society evolves," he said.
While he acknowledged the concern about screen time, he said it would depend more on what they use the screen time for.
"For the very young, if they are watching YouTube movies unsupervised that has probably the greatest damage and our greatest concern. When they are a bit older, it might be games, and when they are even older, it might be social media."
"If they use the screen time for educational purposes and supervise and have constant interactions with adults, I think the effect is quite different from what we have described," he said.
When asked by MP Patrick Tay about whether installing DMA would be mandated, Chan said that DMA has been very helpful in deterring people from entering unsavoury sites, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
He added that MOE also works with parents on their desired and appropriate level of control given by the DMA's options.
Top photos from Canva and Apple App Store