Canvas Platform Disrupted by Cyber Incident at Multiple North American Universities

A cyber attack on Thursday disrupted the academic software Canvas at universities and schools across the US and Canada, leaving students unable to submit assignments or access materials during the high-stakes end-of-year period. The hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the attack, which caused Canvas to go offline.

By late Thursday, Instructure, the company that owns Canvas, posted an update saying that Canvas was available for most users.

The cyber attacks targeted universities and schools from New York to Vancouver. Penn State University stated that no one has access to Canvas and that a resolution was unlikely to arrive within the next 24 hours. The university cancelled some exams scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

In an update on Thursday evening, the University of British Columbia informed students that Canvas was unavailable due to a cyber breach of its parent company Instructure. The university advised students to log out immediately. The University of Toronto reported it was impacted by the breach and that multiple universities were affected.

Students at the University of California Los Angeles struggled to submit assignments online through Canvas. The University of Chicago temporarily disabled its Canvas page after reports that it was targeted. The Chicago Maroon, the university-led newspaper, posted a screenshot of a message from ShinyHunters that appeared to be seeking a ransom.

“to negotiate a settlement" and avoiding "the release of their data".”