The University of California on Thursday said it had instructed all campuses to temporarily block or redirect access to Canvas after Instructure notified the system of a data breach involving its systems. Across UC locations, the Canvas login page displayed a suspicious message originating from the threat actor.
UC said it is making risk-based decisions about when to restore access to Canvas at each campus based on operational needs, and that access will not return until the university is confident the system is secure. Instructure, which makes the learning management system used by thousands of educational institutions globally, later advised that the incident had been contained and remediated.
The University of California has been monitoring security incidents involving Instructure and said the breach was part of a nationwide issue affecting thousands of institutions. The university is in communication with Instructure and coordinating with cybersecurity partners at UC locations as it watches for signs of further disruption. It also warned its community to remain vigilant and exercise caution about possible phishing attempts.
Instructure’s Security Incident Update & FAQs page provides information about what happened and how the company is responding. The immediate question for UC students and staff is not whether Canvas will come back online, but how quickly campus systems can be restored without bringing a known threat back with them.
