A cyberattack targeting the educational software platform Canvas disrupted universities and schools across the United States, Canada, and Australia this week, affecting coursework, examinations, and online access for students during the end-of-year academic period.
The hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach, which impacted an estimated 9,000 institutions worldwide and exposed student and staff data linked to the Canvas learning platform operated by Instructure.
Instructure said Canvas services were restored for most users by late Thursday, though several institutions continued reporting outages and restricted access on Friday.
Universities across multiple countries reported interruptions to exams and coursework as students struggled to access assignments and communication tools through Canvas.
The University of Sydney told students not to attempt logging into the platform, describing the outage as highly disruptive during a critical point in the semester.
Mississippi State University postponed final exams, while Idaho State University cancelled exams scheduled after midday on Thursday.
Penn State University cancelled some exams and warned students that a resolution was unlikely within 24 hours.
Students at the University of California Los Angeles reported difficulties submitting assignments, and the University of Chicago temporarily disabled its Canvas page after reports it had been targeted.
The University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto also confirmed disruptions tied to the cyber breach.
Reuters reported that some schools and universities sought to communicate directly with the hackers to prevent stolen data from being released online.
ShinyHunters said it had stolen roughly 6.65 terabytes of data linked to nearly 9,000 schools, including student names, email addresses, identification numbers, and private messages between users.
The group published messages urging schools to negotiate directly to avoid data leaks before later removing those notices from its website.
Northwestern University student Jacques Abou-Rizk said the uncertainty surrounding the attack caused anxiety among students concerned about both coursework and personal data exposure.
Cybersecurity analyst Luke Connolly told the Associated Press that screenshots indicated the threats began on Sunday, with deadlines extending into May.
The incident also drew political attention in Washington, where Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for stronger cyber defenses against growing digital threats.