A major cyberattack disrupted access to the Canvas learning platform on Thursday, affecting universities and schools across the United States. The incident impacted major institutions including Harvard University, Stanford University, and thousands of other educational organizations.
The attack was claimed by ShinyHunters, a cyber extortion group known for carrying out large-scale online breaches since 2019. The group said it had targeted servers linked to Instructure, the company behind the Canvas platform.
Students trying to log into Canvas reported seeing a message allegedly posted by the Hackers. The message claimed that Instructure had been breached again despite previous security updates.
The Hackers accused the company of ignoring their demands after an earlier data breach. They also warned that stolen information could be released publicly if affected schools failed to contact them before May 12.
The message included a list of schools that ShinyHunters claimed were affected through the Canvas system. Many students and teachers turned to social media to report login issues and service outages during the disruption.
Stanford University confirmed that Canvas became unavailable due to a problem affecting the vendor. The university also stated that Instructure had previously disclosed a nationwide information security issue that was believed to be contained.
However, Stanford later said another outage was now affecting Canvas users across the country. Other universities and institutions also experienced interruptions during the same period.
Instructure confirmed that data stolen during the earlier breach included personal information. The exposed details reportedly included names, email addresses, student ID numbers, and private messages shared between users on the platform.
The company did not immediately confirm whether new data had been stolen in the latest incident. Officials also did not say how many students or institutions were directly impacted by the attack.
Cybersecurity experts have warned that attacks on education systems are increasing globally. Schools and universities often store large amounts of sensitive student and staff information, making them attractive targets for Hackers.
Canvas is one of the most widely used online learning platforms in the United States. It is commonly used for assignments, communication, grades, and virtual learning activities.
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The latest cyberattack has raised fresh concerns about digital security in the education sector. Many institutions are now reviewing their systems and monitoring for possible risks following the disruption.
