Yeah, sure, we all put our files/lectures/exams on this central server that we have no control over, and then they do this to us:
For those who don’t know, Canvas is the courseware many schools use for managing various essential class materials for our students.
Maybe I should rethink our reliance on this thing. You know, it used to be we didn’t use software for communications between students and professors.
Canvas had a security breach, nationwide (worldwide?) and they’re struggling with it. UW IT is telling us to not use it until Canvas works it out. Nothing to do with routine maintenance, nor is it just at your school.
If they tell you it’s maintenance, they’re lying to you. It’s been hacked and shut down in places worldwide.
Yeah, from LGM: Canvas Down!:
It’s down today because the hackers demonstrated this morning that they’re still in the system by sending messages to pretty much every student across the world. Canvas took the whole thing down out of desperation, I wouldn’t expect to be using it for any teaching today…
scheduled? Nope. Nobody on the internet believes that lie. Student and professor data is being held for ransom by a criminal gang. Surprise, this time, it’s not Instructure, the makers of Canvas, who are usually officially charged with the duty of holding student and professor data hostage, instead, it’s some other criminal gang.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/05/hackers-steal-students-data-during-breach-at-education-tech-giant-instructure/