A massive cyberattack is causing widespread disruptions tonight at schools and universities across the country. The notorious extortion group ShinyHunters is claiming responsibility for the breach, which is believed to affect millions of students at thousands of school districts and major universities. The hackers are threatening to leak the stolen data unless their extortion demands are met by May 12.
The data is held in learning software called “Canvas” which provides a centralized digital hub for teachers to create assignments, administer exams and other functions related to education. While the software firm Instructure reports that passwords, government IDs, and financial information do not appear to be compromised, the exposed records reportedly include full names, student ID numbers, email addresses, and billions of internal private messages. Cybersecurity experts and school officials are especially concerned about the leak of these private communications, which frequently contain highly sensitive academic, medical, and mental health, information.
Students, educators and parents who use the “Canvas” software are being urged to monitor their accounts for unusual activity.
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