International Cyber Attack Disrupts Universities and Schools
Tuesday, 2026/05/12171 words3 minutes700 reads
A major cyber attack has caused widespread disruption at universities and schools across three continents. The hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for targeting Canvas, an academic software platform used by approximately 9,000 educational institutions worldwide.
The attack occurred during the critical end-of-year examination period, creating chaos for students and faculty. At Mississippi State University, students had just completed a lengthy exam essay when a ransom note suddenly appeared on their screens, demanding payment in bitcoin. The university postponed Friday's final exams to allow students time to recover their work.
Aubrey Palmer, a meteorology student, described the confusion in her classroom when the message appeared. Initially, she thought her personal device had been compromised, but soon realized the entire Canvas system was under attack. The incident affected institutions including the University of Sydney, Penn State, and the University of British Columbia, with many canceling or rescheduling examinations.
By Thursday evening, Instructure, the company that owns Canvas, reported that service was restored for most users, though some universities continued experiencing outages into Friday.
