U.S. House Committee Seeks Answers on Canvas Intrusions and Data Claims
Summary
The House Homeland Security Committee is seeking answers from Instructure about two Canvas intrusions and disruptions. Instructure says a Free-For-Teacher account issue was exploited; ShinyHunters claims 3.65 TB was stolen, unconfirmed in the article.
Key points
- An April 29 intrusion disrupted tools relying on API keys; services were restored by May 3, then taken offline again on May 7 after hackers returned and defaced school login portals.
- Instructure said an issue with Free-For-Teacher accounts was exploited in both intrusions and that the incident was fully contained.
- ShinyHunters claimed it stole 3.65 terabytes of data, including personal information for 275 million people at about 9,000 education institutions; the article does not independently confirm the claim.
- Instructure said it struck a deal to have the allegedly stolen data returned and erased from the hackers’ servers.
- The Committee is seeking details on how the intrusions occurred, what data was accessed, containment and notification steps, and coordination with federal law enforcement and CISA.
- According to the Committee, the May 7 disruption affected universities and school districts across 11 states.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Governmental scrutiny of Instructure following cyberattacks, service disruption, and an alleged data breach.
- Impact
- The April 29 intrusion disrupted services relying on API keys; after attackers returned on May 7 and defaced school login portals, Instructure took services offline again. The Committee on Homeland Security said the May 7 disruption affected universities and school districts across 11 states. ShinyHunters claimed the attack and allegedly stole 3.65 terabytes of data, including personal information belonging to 275 million people at approximately 9,000 education institutions. Instructure said it reached a deal for the data to be returned and erased, that the incident was fully contained, and that it temporarily shut down Free-For-Teacher accounts after an issue with those accounts was exploited in both intrusions.
Threat Actors
Vendors
Products
CanvasThe US House Committee on Homeland Security has asked Instructure to provide details on the recent cyberattacks that disrupted its broadly used online learning system Canvas.Free-for-TeacherIt also noted that an issue with its Free-For-Teacher accounts was exploited in both intrusions and that the incident has been fully contained.