Canvas platform hacked by ransomware group during finals
by Lisa Hornung · UPIMay 8 (UPI) -- Online education platform Canvas suffered a ransomware attack that shut down access in the United States on Thursday.
Canvas, used by more than 8,000 schools and universities in the United States, is owned by parent company Instructure. It has more than more than 30 million active users globally.
The site was working again for most users by late Thursday, Instructure said. But many schools had already changed their finals schedules to accommodate the shutdown.
Universities like Columbia, Princeton, Harvard and Georgetown said a ransom note signed by a hacking group showed up on the home pages of their schools' Canvas sites. It said it had accessed data from millions of users. It said the schools affected have until May 12 to "negotiate a settlement," CNN reported.
Instructure only said that it was investigating why the software wasn't working, The New York Times reported. But the hacking group ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility for the attack.
It's the second school data breach ShinyHunters has claimed this month. In the ransom note Thursday, it said it had hacked Instructure "again," saying that after the previous breach, "Instead of contacting us to resolve it they ignored us and did some 'security patches,'" The Times reported.
Historic May moments through the years
Wreathes are seen amongst the statues at the Korean War Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day weekend in Washington on May 27, 2023. Memorial Day, which honors U.S. military personnel who died while in service, is held on the last Monday of May. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo