Cyber attack disrupts Canvas, threatens to publish data of more than 275 million people

A cyber attack adopted by the  "Shine Hunters"  group disrupted the  "Canvas" platform in a group of American universities, by hacking into the platform's technical infrastructure, distorting the login page with extortion messages, and threatening to publish the data of about 275 million students and employees from more than 9,000 educational institutions if a ransom is not paid within a specified deadline in the largest attack of its kind.

The company,   Structure, which owns the platform, which includes universities such as Harvard and Stanford, confirmed that its servers were exposed to a major breach that led to the suspension of the service, which necessitated urgent attempts to contain it, after stealing students' names, electronic account addresses, university ID numbers, in addition to private messages between users.

Stanford University said the platform was  "unavailable" due to a provider issue, citing a new outage affecting other universities, with a message from hackers saying the platform's servers had been "hacked again" and that the group would publish the data unless educational institutions contacted it to negotiate.

Official warnings of attacks sponsored by foreign governments

Earlier in June, the U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA  warned of a high level of attacks targeting universities, citing the activity of groups backed by foreign government agencies that hack into educational networks and steal sensitive data, threatening to disrupt the educational process and damage institutions' reputations.

The threats have hit  prestigious Ivy League institutions, such as Princeton and Pennsylvania, raising widespread concerns within academia, especially as the attack coincides with final exams.

U.S. universities are facing increasing challenges in protecting their digital infrastructure, with their widespread reliance on learning management systems and cloud platforms, making them an attractive target for hacking groups seeking to extort or steal data.

 Canvas

Launched  in 2011 by Instructure, one of the most widely used learning management systems in the United States, Canvas is used by hundreds of universities and educational institutions to organize student-faculty communication, track student performance, analyze educational data, and conduct online exams.

  Instructor, the owner of Canvas, emphasizes that it is designed to provide a flexible and user-friendly learning environment, with extensive support for digital tools and integration with multiple educational systems, as the platform accredits prominent universities including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Washington, Arizona and the University of Florida.

The company confirms that the platform adopts international security and compliance standards, and undergoes periodic audits to ensure the protection of users' data and continuity of service.

Chainy Hunters Collection

The Chainy Hunters Group has been one of the world's most prominent and dangerous cyber hacking groups in recent years, and since 2019 its activity has emerged as a criminal network specialized in data theft and extortion of institutions by leaking information or selling it on the dark web.

The group operates on a structured model based on hacking into cloud systems and huge databases, and then threatening to publish the stolen information unless payments are made.

ChainHunters has carried out a wide range of attacks on tech, education, and financial companies, including hacks targeting major educational platforms such as Canvas, global companies such as Cushman & Wakefield and Udemy, as well as the leak of millions of records associated with Wall Street investment institutions.

The group's successive attacks demonstrate its high ability to bypass complex security systems, making it at the forefront of global cyber threats, especially as it continues to be active and expands its operations despite international attempts to disrupt it.