INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — Canvas is back online Friday after the web-based learning management system used by thousands of students across the country suffered an outage beginning Thursday.
The outage hit universities across the country, like Harvard, Princeton and Georgetown. The impact was felt locally at universities like IU Indianapolis and Ivy Tech College, and a slew of K-12 districts.
The outage hit during a critical time in the school year when students are studying for final exams.
"I tried to log into Canvas last night to check on my final exam that I had today, and I was instantly brought up to a page that said it won't work," said Seth Massey, a sophomore at IU Indianapolis, on Friday.
Canvas is used by schools, teachers and students to access online learning materials, like study guides and tests. According to parent company Instructure, it's used by tens of millions of people across the world. Massey told WRTV he uses Canvas for "everything."
Hacking Group ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility for the breach that Massey says forced a delay in some final exams.
"I know a lot of people, a lot of friends who, they were not able to take their final exams," he said. "Some of them are graduating, so it might even affect some of that.
One IU Indianapolis student told WRTV while her microbiology final exam wasn't canceled, students had to go "old school" to take it.
"We normally go to the testing centers, do our test on Canvas, but today was not one of those days," said nursing student Kennedy Riley. "I got there and they said, 'Canvas is down.' They pulled out the Scantron, they pulled out the packet of paper, #2 pencil, and I had to sit there and take it manually... I have not done that in... I don't even know (how long)."
In a statement on its website, Instructure said, "Canvas is fully back online and available for use. Our external forensic partner has reviewed the known indicators and found no evidence that the threat actor currently has access to the platform" and also said it has removed "the access path the actor used."
