A widespread cyberattack has disrupted universities and schools in the United States, Canada and Australia, causing major academic interruptions during a critical end-of-semester period.
The hacking group ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility for the attack, which temporarily knocked offline Canvas, a widely used online academic platform operated by Instructure and used by thousands of educational institutions worldwide.
By Thursday night, Instructure said Canvas had been restored “for most users,” though several universities continued to report outages on Friday. The company estimated that around 9,000 institutions globally were affected.
The disruption forced multiple universities to postpone or cancel examinations and coursework. Mississippi State University, for example, delayed final exams to allow students to recover lost academic work.
Students described confusion and panic after a ransom message appeared on screens mid-exam, claiming that ShinyHunters had breached the system and threatening to release stolen data unless a payment in cryptocurrency was made.
Universities including Penn State University, Idaho State University and the University of British Columbia confirmed service interruptions, with some cancelling exams and warning students not to attempt logging into the platform.
The Chicago Maroon, the university-led newspaper, posted a screenshot of a message from ShinyHunters that appeared to be seeking a ransom.
The message encouraged the university to contact the hacking group privately "to negotiate a settlement" and avoiding "the release of their data".
It was the same message that Northwestern University masters student Jacques Abou-Rizk said he received when he clicked a link in an email that appeared to be from a university administrator.
"I didn't know what was happening," Abou-Rizk recalled. "It's a scary message to receive."
At the University of Toronto, officials said multiple institutions were impacted, while students at the University of California, Los Angeles faced difficulties submitting assignments. The University of Chicago temporarily disabled its Canvas access following the breach.
The hacking group reportedly demanded ransom payments in exchange for not leaking stolen data. Some students and faculty described widespread confusion as systems suddenly went offline during exams and assignments.
Cybersecurity analysts said the attack appeared to be part of a coordinated extortion campaign, with deadlines issued for payment demands earlier this week.
The incident comes amid growing concerns about cyber threats targeting educational and public infrastructure, with US lawmakers urging stronger national cybersecurity measures.
Authorities and Instructure continue to investigate the breach, while universities are working to restore services and reschedule affected academic activities.
Source: BBC
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
