Canvas down, reportedly due to cyberattack

Canvas, a widely used learning management system owned by Instructure, is fully inaccessible due to an apparent cyberattack by the hacking group ShinyHunters, who threaten to leak data by May 12 unless a settlement is reached. The outage, confirmed by the University of Washington, disrupts thousands of students and educators nationwide during a critical exam period, following a prior breach on Wednesday where hackers accessed names, email addresses, and student IDs." "article": "Canvas, a learning management system used by schools and universities across the United States, is experiencing a full outage due to an apparent cyberattack. The University of Washington confirmed the disruption stems from a security incident, rendering the platform inaccessible to all users since around 12:30 p.m. PT. The hacking group ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility, posting a warning that data will be leaked by May 12 unless a settlement is reached. The outage affects thousands of students and educators nationwide, particularly as many institutions are concluding finals and midterms. Canvas, owned by Instructure, provides essential tools for online courses, assignments, and grading. Users attempting to log in are met with a message from ShinyHunters, which accuses Instructure of ignoring previous contact attempts and failing to address security flaws. Instructure previously addressed a confirmed cybersecurity incident on Wednesday, where hackers accessed names, email addresses, student ID numbers, and messages. The company claimed to have contained the breach by 2:15 p.m., stating no passwords, dates of birth, government IDs, or financial information were compromised. However, the current outage remains under investigation, with Instructure not yet confirming whether it is directly linked to the cyberattack. The disruption follows a pattern of repeated breaches by ShinyHunters, who have targeted Instructure before. The hackers’ latest message threatens to expose sensitive data unless their demands are met, adding urgency to the situation. Instructure has not provided further details on the ongoing investigation, but users can check the status of services on the company’s official website. This outage underscores growing concerns about cybersecurity vulnerabilities in educational technology platforms, particularly as academic institutions rely heavily on digital tools for instruction and assessment. Students and educators affected by the disruption face significant challenges as they navigate the final weeks of the academic year without access to critical resources.