Global Canvas Cyberattack Impacts Universities and Schools

Hackers have defaced login pages and issued ransom demands to educational institutions globally following a cyberattack on the digital learning platform Canvas.

The attack targeted Instructure, the vendor behind the Canvas tool, with hackers utilizing “pay or leak” ransom notes to pressure the organization. According to reports, the attackers claimed to have accessed sensitive data and threatened to release it unless payments were made.

In Singapore, universities are currently assessing the impact of the breach on their systems. The National University of Singapore (NUS) stated that students’ names and identification numbers may have been exposed during the attack. However, the university clarified that passwords and academic marks remain safe.

The disruption has extended across a wide swathe of international schools and universities, impacting the delivery of educational materials and administrative functions. In addition to the data theft attempts, the attackers defaced various school login pages to signal the compromise of the systems.

Institutions continue to evaluate the extent of the data exposure as they coordinate responses to the breach.