Canvas back online after cyberattack shuttered learning platform for schools across U.S.

The learning platform Canvas, used by thousands of U.S. schools and universities, was taken offline Thursday due to a cyberattack by the group ShinyHunters, who exploited Free-For-Teacher accounts and threatened to leak billions of private messages. Instructure, the company behind Canvas, restored access by Friday after temporarily disabling affected accounts, though some institutions like Penn State and UCLA canceled exams due to the outage." "article": "The Canvas learning platform, used by nearly 9,000 schools worldwide, was shut down Thursday after hackers exploited vulnerabilities in its Free-For-Teacher accounts. The cyberattack disrupted access for students and teachers, forcing schools like Penn State, Columbia University, and UCLA to delay exams and assignments. ShinyHunters, the hacking group responsible, claimed responsibility and threatened to leak billions of private messages unless demands were met. Instructure, Canvas’s parent company, confirmed the breach and stated that hackers altered pages visible to logged-in users. The company temporarily disabled Free-For-Teacher accounts to restore system security, with full access returning by Friday. Schools across the U.S., including Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, reported disruptions, while officials in Spokane, Washington, assured parents no sensitive data was compromised. ShinyHunters initially set deadlines for potential data leaks on Thursday and May 12, suggesting possible extortion negotiations. By Friday, Instructure and Canvas were removed from the group’s dark web leak site, indicating a resolution. The attack mirrors a previous breach on PowerSchool, another education platform, highlighting the growing risk of cyber threats targeting schools. The incident underscores the vulnerability of digital education systems, with hackers increasingly targeting institutions rich in sensitive student data. Schools like the University of Texas at San Antonio and Harvard’s student newspaper reported outages, while districts scrambled to reassure parents amid the chaos. The disruption came at a critical time, as students prepared for final exams and teachers sought workarounds to maintain instruction.