International cyber attack disrupts swathe of universities and schools
The hacking group ShinyHunters disrupted academic software Canvas, used by 9,000 institutions worldwide, including universities in the US, Canada, and Australia, by posting ransom notes and threatening data release unless bitcoin payments were made. Affected institutions like Mississippi State University, the University of Sydney, and Penn State University canceled exams, rescheduled assessments, and advised students to avoid suspicious messages as the outage persisted into Friday.
A cyber attack by the hacking group ShinyHunters disrupted the academic software Canvas, used by 9,000 institutions globally, including universities in the US, Canada, and Australia. The attack caused the platform to go offline this week, with Instructure, the company that owns Canvas, confirming limited availability by late Thursday. However, many universities continued to report outages on Friday, leaving students unable to access coursework or submit assignments. Mississippi State University postponed Friday’s final exams after students encountered a ransom note on their screens during a 2,900-word exam essay. The message, attributed to ShinyHunters, threatened to release stolen data unless a bitcoin ransom was paid. Students expressed frustration and confusion, with some fearing lost work. The university advised students to ignore suspicious messages and rescheduled exams amid the disruption. The University of Sydney informed students that Canvas was unavailable and instructed them not to attempt logging in, acknowledging the outage’s impact at a critical time in the semester. Idaho State University canceled exams scheduled after 12:00 local time, while Penn State University warned that a resolution was unlikely within 24 hours and canceled exams for Thursday and Friday. The University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto also reported disruptions, with UBC advising students to log out immediately due to the cyber breach. At the University of California Los Angeles, students struggled to submit assignments, while the University of Chicago temporarily disabled its Canvas page after reports of targeting. The hackers’ ransom note, shared by Northwestern University’s student newspaper, urged institutions to negotiate privately to avoid data leaks. Students like meteorology student Aubrey Palmer at Mississippi State University and Jacques Abou-Rizk at Northwestern University described receiving alarming messages, with Abou-Rizk admitting confusion after clicking a suspicious link. The attack has left universities scrambling to address the fallout, with many still awaiting updates from Instructure as the situation develops.
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