Cyber Attack Hits 9,000 Universities Worldwide During Finals Week

ShinyHunters' Canvas attack disrupts 9,000 schools' exams in US, Canada, Australia, causing chaos and rescheduling during finals.

By Content Team

May 10, 2026

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The hacking group ShinyHunters attacked Canvas, the academic software used by thousands of schools, disrupting approximately 9,000 institutions across the US, Canada, and Australia during critical end-of-year exams.

Students at Mississippi State University were mid-exam when ransom notes suddenly appeared on their screens, demanding bitcoin payment and threatening to release stolen data. The university postponed Friday's finals to help students recover lost work.

Major universities including Penn State, University of Sydney, and UCLA cancelled or rescheduled exams as Canvas remained largely offline. By Thursday evening, owner Instructure reported the platform was "available for most users," though many schools still experienced outages Friday.

Students expressed anxiety about completing coursework and potential data breaches, while universities scrambled to communicate updates and reschedule critical assessments during this high-stakes academic period.

Source: BBC

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