Canvas access restored at UBC

Access to Canvas at UBC has been restored. Students are able to log into the platform, and UBC IT has released a statement confirming Canvas and Canvas Catalog are both "fully operational" and "available for students, staff and faculty."

In an email to The Ubyssey, UBC spokesperson Thandi Fletcher said that access to the platform was restored after the university felt confident that the platform was safe for the community to use. However, she noted that some tools within Canvas “will take longer to fully recover.”

With the summer session underway, Fletcher said that “faculty and instructors have the choice to either return to Canvas or remain in their alternative hosting tools, which will continue to be maintained for the duration of the summer terms.” She said that instructors or departments may directly contact students with “updates and instructions.”

The last update from UBC IT before today's announcements — published last night — said UBC had “made the decision to work with Instructure to restore access to Canvas and Canvas Catalog for the UBC community,” based on Instructure, the platform’s developer, stating the company had taken appropriate measures to “address the Canvas cybersecurity incident.” Canvas remained down at UBC after Instructure announced the site was back up and operational, which IT said was in order to "review security measures."

Canvas was down since May 7, when the site faced a cyberattack by the cybercrime group ShinyHunters, affecting 275 million Canvas users at thousands of educational institutions worldwide. The group claimed it stole personal information off of Canvas in an earlier attack, which Instructure said included “names, email addresses, and student ID numbers, as well as [private] messages.” On May 11, Instructure said it reached an agreement with ShinyHunters, leading to the return of all data stolen and “digital confirmation of data destruction.”