The system's parent company Instructure first reported that it was affected by "a cybersecurity incident perpetrated by a criminal threat actor" over the weekend. A message posted on their website Thursday afternoon said "Canvas, Canvas Beta and Canvas Test are currently in maintenance mode. We anticipate being back up soon."
Thousands of institutions and millions of users have reportedly been affected, including UC and Cal State schools. At Cal State Northridge, students said they are concerned about how the breach could immediately affect their coursework as the semester nears its end.
"Frankly, it's coming at the worst time possible," said Alfonso Vargas, a CSU Northridge student. "It's during finals week. Teachers are finding out right now. I'm a little worried whether they extend the deadline or not, because I have a term paper due ... I'm not too sure if the teachers are going to be allowed to. I'm not too sure. I hope this can be figured out as soon as possible."
The extortion group "Shiny Hunters" has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.
The group claims it stole more than 275 million records connected to students, teachers, and staff members across the world. They also threatened to release billions of private messages between students and teachers if a ransom isn't paid by May 12.
School officials have not released additional details, and more information is expected as the situation develops.
At Glendale Community College, the president told Eyewitness News that staff are working to move coursework to other platforms so students can stay on track.
"We actually do have some backups that are going to support these efforts," Glendale Community College president Ryan Cornner said. "I don't think that's common across all institutions, and I expect that will be an ongoing conversation."