Canvas reportedly hacked by ShinyHunters, claiming data breach
FILE - Generic stock image of a hacker. (Getty Images)
Canvas, a widely used school learning platform, has reportedly been hacked and is experiencing outages. causing problems for thousands of universities natiowide.
Is Canvas down?
Dig deeper:
According to DownDetector, Canvas by Instructure is a learning management system (LMS) that supports online course organization, assignments, grading, video conferencing, and a range of educational tools for schools and universities.
DownDetector said users started to report issues with Canvas on Thursday afternoon, but the number of reports seemed to be trending downward after a few hours.
Some universities said Canvas has been hacked by ShinyHunters.
The Daily Pennsylvanian, a student-run newspaper at the University of Pennsylvania, reported that the May 7 data breach follows claims by ShinyHunters—an infamous hacking group known for large-scale breaches—that it infiltrated Instructure, the company behind Canvas, last week.
In a message posted on Penn’s Canvas page, the group warned that any university seeking to prevent the release of its data should contact them before May 12.
What they're saying:
Instructure also posted information on its website.
"We are currently investigating an issue where some users are having difficulties logging into Student ePortfolios. This is not affecting customers" adding some users were having difficulties logging into Student ePortfolios.
Instructure later posted
"We are currently investigating this issue," adding that Canvas, Canvas Beta and Canvas Test are currently unavailable.
FOX Television Stations has reached out to Instructure for comment.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
The Source: The information in this story comes from a combination of sources, including user reports on DownDetector, official statements posted by Instructure about service disruptions, and reporting by The Daily Pennsylvanian. This story was reported from Los Angeles.