Cyber collapse: Idaho State University disables access to Canvas for security concerns
POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – Idaho colleges and universities are still reeling from the impact of a massive cyberattack that hit schools around the country just as classes are finishing up critical work. Students were locked out of their Canvas accounts, unable to take final exams or access critical campus systems.
One day after the crippling cyberattack took down the premier learning platforms across America, Idaho State University (ISU) continues not to use the Canvas learning management system (LMS) due to security concerns.
"This is like a huge drawback and a huge setback because even though some exams were canceled and they said some grades would not be counted, we still do not know how the grades are going to come out," said Mary Chamda, a sophomore studying computer science.
Authorities are still assessing the damage of the hostile takedown of the learning system, in which ShinyHunters hacked into the system and compromised student information.
"We know that it took down Instructure’s Canvas instance for thousands of institutions, including virtually all the institutions in the state of Idaho, as well as Idaho State University," said ISU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Adam Bradford. "Other than that, Canvas has been working to restore accessibility, but at this point in time, that's a very dynamic situation."
The Canvas system includes students’ course materials, tests or quizzes, assignments, and grading.
"The nature of the data that was compromised was not financial – Social Security numbers, bank accounts, [or] those types of things. It was demographic data – names, physical addresses, things like this," Bradford said.
More than 8,000 institutions and 30 million people use Canvas worldwide – including students at Boise State, Brigham Young University-Idaho, College of Eastern Idaho, and University of Idaho.
ISU still advises students not to log in, accept messages, or open links from Canvas and has disabled access to the platform.
"I'm hopeful that it gets resolved quickly, but it does concern me that information might be just floating out there that I was hoping would be confidential and private, " said James Cannon, an MBA graduate, completing his education on Saturday.
All finals planned for after the cyberattack occurred on Thursday at noon have been canceled at ISU and won’t be rescheduled.
“What we wanted to ensure was a fairness and equitable treatment for all of our students. That was really important to us," Bradford said. "We did not want the collapse of the LMS system and Canvas' inaccessibility to negatively impact our students – in terms of their final grades or their ability to complete the semester in any way."
In spite of the attack, Idaho State University continues to press forward towards graduation on Saturday.
"We're going to put all this aside. We are going to go over to Holt Arena, and we are going to graduate our students," Bradford said. "That is going to be absolutely fantastic!"
