A cybersecurity breach is affecting universities across the country, including the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin.
Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, which students at the U of M use for online learning and to submit assignments, is unavailable as of Thursday evening.
An image that appears to be a message from a hacking group known as “Shinyhunters” is circulating online, in which the group takes responsibility for the hack and states that affected schools should “consult with a cyber advisory firm and contact us privately… to negotiate a settlement.”
A spokesperson for the University of Minnesota issued the following statement, confirming the breach:
“The University of Minnesota was notified by Instructure, a software and technology supplier of the University, of a cybersecurity incident affecting its clients worldwide. As of today, users are unable to access Instructure’s Canvas system, which is a cloud- and web-based learning management system for online courses, learning materials and communications. University administrators are awaiting updates from the vendor and taking additional measures to protect University information.”
A spokesperson for the University of Wisconsin confirmed the school was also a part of the hack, saying, “At around 3 p.m. today, UW–Madison became aware we are part of a nationwide Canvas outage. We recognize this is occurring at a very challenging time during final exams and grading, and we’re committed to providing you with support and flexibility as we navigate this significant disruption. Multiple teams are working to address this issue.”
The University of Wisconsin went on to tell students not to interact with any direction from Canvas this time, such as prompts to log on, click a link or reset your password.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS is working to learn more and will bring you updates.
