It’s finals week at Indiana University, and instructors are unable to enter grades or view some submitted assignments.
A hacker group known as ShinyHunters infiltrated Canvas, a learning management system used by IU and hundreds of other American schools.
Students and staff attempting to access the platform received a message from the hackers threatening to release user information if the affected schools refuse to negotiate a settlement by May 12. The message included a link to the hackers’ site, accessible only through the TOR browser.
At 5:45 p.m., IU's University Information Technology Services sent an email to campus saying, "Canvas is experiencing a global outage that affects Indiana University and other educational institutions. More updates and instructions will be shared as they are available."
A message sent to students in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering said, "Evidently, with perfect timing for the semester, there has been an attack on canvas. ... If you logged into it today, it is possible your credentials / account may be compromised."
I detest Canvas. I cannot believe it has such a monopoly on schools and universities. The UI is terrible, slow, inflexible and antiquated. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that it was hacked. If the hackers' claims are true, this is the largest FERPA violation in history.
— Ryan R. Rosario (@DataJunkie) May 7, 2026
An IU spokesman said only that information will be shared as it becomes available.
Instructure, the company behind Canvas, said yesterday that names, email addresses, student ID numbers and user messages were found to be compromised but found no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers or financial information were leaked.
San Diego State University said on social media that at 6:10 p.m. ET "reports are being received from other universities that students are being contacted directly with ransomware offers."
Georgetown University sent a social media message that said, "We ask that faculty be flexible where possible with final exam, project and paper deadlines."
