A massive global Canvas outage triggered by a ransomware attack threw finals week into chaos at Indiana University Fort Wayne, leaving junior Kate Saavedra stranded just hours before her last exam. The hacking group ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility, demanding a ransom by May 12 or threatening to leak data tied to roughly 275 million users worldwide. What happens next could change finals for thousands of students.
Indiana student caught in the middle of a global Canvas meltdown
For Kate Saavedra, finals week was supposed to end with one last push and a long summer. Instead, she woke up Friday morning to find her digital classroom still locked.
“I just want to get it over with and go on break,” the IU Fort Wayne junior told 21Alive News.
Saavedra first heard about the outage on social media late Thursday night while studying. Soon after, she got a notification from Canvas confirming a “global outage.” She assumed it would be fixed by sunrise. It was not.
Her final exam was scheduled for Friday morning, but with the platform down and her professor based in Indianapolis, both were left scrambling for a workaround.
“Our last resort is printing out our own exam and then taking that exam,” Saavedra said. “But other than that, we’ll have to see and wait it out and see when Canvas comes back on.”
What caused the Canvas outage and ransomware attack
This was not a simple server glitch. Instructure, the parent company behind Canvas, confirmed the disruption was tied to a cybersecurity incident that began earlier in the month and exploded into a second wave of attacks on May 7.
The cybercrime group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility. The group says it stole 3.65 terabytes of data, replaced college login pages with ransom messages, and gave Instructure until Tuesday, May 12 to pay up.
Here is what investigators have confirmed so far:
- Data taken: Names, email addresses, student ID numbers, and private messages between students and teachers.
- Data not affected: Passwords, birth dates, government IDs, and financial details.
- Reach: About 8,809 schools and universities across the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Singapore.
- Users impacted: Roughly 275 million records, according to the hackers’ own claims.
How colleges across Indiana and the U.S. are responding
The fallout has been brutal. Canvas powers about 41% of all U.S. higher education institutions, which means the timing could not have been worse.
Indiana University, Indiana State, and Monroe County schools were locked out for nearly two full days. Ivy Tech reported its access had been restored first. At the University of Illinois, exams and assignments were postponed outright. James Madison University pushed Friday’s 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. finals all the way to Wednesday, May 13.
| Institution | Action Taken |
|---|---|
| Indiana University Fort Wayne | Awaiting official rescheduling guidance |
| University of Illinois | Postponed finals and assignments |
| James Madison University | Rescheduled Friday exams to May 13 |
| Ivy Tech | Service restored earliest |
| Penn, Northwestern, UChicago | Faculty unable to enter grades |
Canvas service was largely restored by Friday afternoon. But for many professors, the bigger problem was grades. With the system frozen at the worst possible moment, instructors across the country could not log final scores or open submitted work.
Why this outage hit students harder than a normal tech glitch
For students, finals are not just tests. They are the gate between an exhausting semester and the freedom of summer.
Saavedra summed up that emotional weight perfectly.
“It’s been a long year, it’s been a long semester. Hearing that today, Friday, is my last final, and a lot of other students have already finished and are already on summer break, so not being on summer break is a little bit stressful.”
That stress is multiplied for seniors waiting on graduation clearance, international students with flights booked, and athletes traveling for summer programs. A single missed grade entry can ripple into delayed transcripts, lost scholarships, and pushed back internship start dates.
Cybersecurity experts warn that even if Canvas is back online, the data already stolen cannot be unstolen. Students whose names, emails, and ID numbers were leaked could become future targets for phishing scams, especially fake “tuition refund” or “financial aid” emails in the weeks ahead.
What students can do right now
Until schools issue formal guidance, students stuck in the same spot as Saavedra have a few smart steps to take.
- Save screenshots of any Canvas error messages, exam timers, and professor emails as proof of the disruption.
- Email professors directly with a clear timeline of what happened and request written confirmation of any new exam date.
- Watch for suspicious emails claiming to be from your school, financial aid office, or Canvas support.
- Change your Canvas password as soon as access returns, and turn on two factor authentication.
- Check your school’s official status page daily, not just social media rumors.
For Saavedra and thousands like her, the only thing left to do is wait. 21Alive News reported that Canvas has been restored, but the school has not yet announced how students who missed Friday’s exams will be handled. Behind every login screen is a real student counting down to summer, hoping the next email brings a date, an answer, or simply a break. If you or someone you know was caught in the Canvas chaos this week, share your story in the comments and let other readers know how your school is handling it. Use #CanvasOutage on X and Instagram to keep the conversation going.
