A major cybersecurity breach involving the online education platform Canvas has raised concerns for schools and colleges across the U.S.
Millions of students and teachers worldwide use Canvas for assignments, grades, messaging, and virtual coursework, WFTV reported.
School officials said hackers have gained unauthorized access to parts of the system. Fulton County Schools said they were aware of the breach and confirmed Canvas is used in the district.
“We are monitoring the situation closely and will provide direct updates to any families specifically impacted as more information becomes available,” Fulton County Schools said.
Instructure, the company that operates Canvas, said in a status update Wednesday that the platform is operational again.
The company said it is not seeing any ongoing unauthorized activity.
They said names, email addresses, and student ID numbers, as well as messages among users had been accessed by hackers.
“At this time, we have found no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers, or financial information were involved. If that changes, we will notify any impacted institutions,” Instructure said.
The hacking and extortion gang ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach, according to TechCrunch.
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