The government distributed laptops infected with malware connected to Russian servers, to vulnerable children in England.
The government distributed laptops infected with malware connected to Russian servers, to vulnerable children in England.
Staff at school in Bradford reported the problem on an online IT forum. The government offers free devices to aid disadvantaged students who cannot access remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Upon unboxing and preparing them, it was discovered that a number of the laptops were infected with a self-propagating network worm," said one of the teachers.
The Department of Education (DfE) stated that they had already distributed more than 800,000 laptops and tablets until January 2021 to schools, academy trusts and local authorities around the U.K.
“We have been investigating an issue with malware that was found on a small number of the laptops provided to schools as part of our Get Help With Technology programme, ” reported a DfE official to BBC.
“We take online safety and security extremely seriously, and we will continue to monitor for any further reports of malware. Any schools that may have concerns should contact the Department for Education.”
It is still unknown how many devices are compromised or how many schools the infected laptops were sent.
The malware found in the infected laptops is known as Gamarue or Andromeda, first discovered in 2011. The malware can use its victims to send more spam emails messages, downloading and installing other malware, and copying itself to removable media such as USB drives.
The malware is commonly used by Russian and Eastern European cybercriminals and is sold on the underground cybercrime market.
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