WACO, Texas (KXXV) — A cyberattack on the Canvas learning platform has disrupted college campuses across the country, including Baylor University in Waco, where Friday finals have been delayed.
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Canvas, owned by Instructure, is used by universities and schools to manage assignments, grades, course materials, and testing. The hacking group Shiny Hunters reportedly claimed responsibility for the breach.
The platform is back online following the attack, but students say the stress and uncertainty are not over.
Baylor freshman Mackenzie Grosteffon had two finals scheduled for Friday and worried rescheduled exams could disrupt her plans to drive home to Colorado.
"I'm supposed to leave on Wednesday to drive home, and so I was definitely just worried if they push finals out that I wouldn't be able to get home, um, and just the planning that goes into getting home, I was definitely worried that it would make it a lot more difficult," Grosteffon said.
"I'm grateful for the study break, but also just, I was excited to get these over with, so kind of frustrating that they're pushed out so much further," Grosteffon said.
Baylor says Friday finals will now be held online Thursday, May 14. All remaining exams will continue as scheduled.
Some students, like Katie Dyer, say their professors decided to cancel exams altogether.
"I put a lot of time and effort into this, and now I don't, there's no outcome with it, but it takes a little stress off my plate, yeah," Dyer said.
Other students say the outage leaves them unsure how to prepare for the end of the semester.
"In a silly way, I feel a little bit blessed. It kind of feels like a gift from the lord because my hardest final is tomorrow, um, but it also is a little bit confusing. I was like, I don't really know what I should be studying for, if I should be studying for it," another Baylor student said.
Baylor sent 25 News a statement about the impact of the cyberattack.
"The Canvas outage has been disruptive and challenging not only for Baylor but for universities across the country, especially coming at the close of an academic year. Canvas access was restored earlier today, and to ensure our students have every opportunity to succeed, on Thursday evening Baylor made the decision to adjust the final exam schedule. Finals scheduled for today (Friday) will be made up online on next Thursday, May 14, and all other exams will proceed as scheduled.
At this time, we do not anticipate this situation will impact next week’s Commencement ceremonies or the beginning of the May Minimester.
We appreciate the patience and flexibility of our faculty, students and staff and the dedicated work of our academic and information technology leadership as they responded swiftly to a very difficult and complex issue. We will continue to carefully monitor this situation and provide updates as needed."
Cybersecurity expert Damien Fortune says taking the platform offline is a common response to ransomware attacks.
"It's a very classic escalation tactic for ransomware attackers to kind of turn the screws, to try to force the folks into paying the ransom," Fortune said.
Fortune says that while there is no confirmation passwords were leaked, students should still take precautions, including changing any shared passwords with Canvas and watching for signs their information may be being used elsewhere online.
Local school district Waco ISD also uses Canvas. The district sent us a statement about the cyberattack.
"Late yesterday, Waco ISD was notified of a security incident affecting Canvas Instructure, the Learning Management System used by the district for grades 9 through 12.
In response, Waco ISD Technology Services proactively suspended access to Canvas for all users until further notice. This is a precautionary measure while the district awaits official confirmation regarding whether any Waco ISD data was involved.
The district wishes to emphasize that personally identifiable information for students and staff is not stored within the Canvas system.
Access to Canvas could be restored once the district receives confirmation that the issue is fully resolved and the platform is secure. Waco ISD remains committed to the highest standards of data protection and will provide further updates as more information becomes available."
McLennan Community College does not use Canvas.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
