The widely-used Canvas educational platform has resumed operations after experiencing a significant data breach that caused widespread disruption during final exam period at universities across the country.
A ransomware organization has taken responsibility for the cyberattack that temporarily knocked the learning management system offline. The incident affected approximately half of all higher education institutions throughout North America that rely on Canvas for coursework delivery and student assessments.
Despite the platform’s return to service, many universities are advising their students and faculty to hold off on accessing their Canvas accounts while additional security measures are implemented. The timing proved particularly problematic as the outage occurred during the critical final examination period when students needed access to course materials and online testing platforms.
Educational technology officials at affected schools are working to assess the full scope of the security incident and determine what student and faculty information may have been compromised during the breach.
