Canvas Parent Company Reaches Deal With Hackers After Cyberattack
NEW DELHI — The parent company of Canvas has reached an agreement with hackers following a major cyberattack that disrupted universities and colleges in several countries, intensifying concerns over digital security in education systems, according to multiple reports.
Instructure, the U.S.-based company that operates Canvas LMS, confirmed that it reached a deal with the hackers behind an April cyberattack that affected an estimated 9,000 institutions in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.
The breach has raised questions about the resilience of large-scale education technology platforms that handle sensitive student and institutional data. It has also renewed concerns about cloud-based systems used to store exam records, answer sheets and other academic information, including systems tied to India’s Central Board of Secondary Education ecosystem.
Reports said the attack caused widespread disruption, including interruptions during exams after the Canvas platform went down.
The attackers claimed to have stolen about 3.5 terabytes of student and institutional data and threatened to publish it online unless a ransom was paid.
Instructure said the hackers claimed they had deleted the stolen data and agreed not to further extort customers affected by the breach, according to reports. The company has not confirmed whether any payment was made.
Cybersecurity experts say such agreements are often linked to ransom negotiations conducted through encrypted channels.
According to Instructure, the agreement includes confirmation that the data was returned, digital verification of its deletion and assurances that affected customers will not be targeted further.
The breach was discovered April 29 and was claimed by the ShinyHunters extortion group, which has previously been linked to several global cyber incidents.
Canvas LMS, a widely used learning management system, was affected by both the data breach and a service outage.
Instructure said it was investigating a cybersecurity incident involving certain user data, including names, email addresses, student ID numbers and messages exchanged among users.
The company said it had found no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identification numbers or financial information were accessed in the breach. (Source: IANS)
