Luxembourg government mobiles cut off after malware alert

“Investigations on the malware are still ongoing,” said a CTIE representative, Luxembourg’s state IT centre, after the platform managing CTIE-administered mobile devices was isolated. Photo: Shutterstock

A malware detection on a platform used to manage government-issued smartphones and tablets has forced Luxembourg’s CTIE to isolate the system, cutting off mobile access to internal state services.

Malware was detected on the system used to manage CTIE-administered mobile devices, prompting Luxembourg’s state IT centre to isolate the affected platform as a precautionary measure and leaving access to internal state services via mobile devices unavailable since the evening of Thursday 26 February, according to a notice from the Ministry for Digitalisation.

A CTIE representative confirmed Paperjam on Friday that the malware was detected on the platform used to manage CTIE-administered smartphones and tablets, while stressing that investigations into the malware are still ongoing.

The representative stated that isolating the affected system means all CTIE-administered mobile devices cannot access internal state services for the moment, including email and calendar.

The representative clarified that the disruption only affects CTIE-managed mobile devices used by public sector staff. Staff cannot use those smartphones and tablets to access internal state services and need to use their professional computers instead.

The representative added that mobile devices for education are managed by the Centre for IT Management in Education (CGIE) on its own platform.

The CTIE representative stated that the platform was isolated as a precautionary measure. The Ministry for Digitalisation notice did not give a timetable for restoring mobile access and the CTIE representative indicated investigations were still under way.

It is a developing story.