Canvas data breach affects schools and universities in Australia and worldwide

A cybersecurity incident involving the Canvas learning management system has affected thousands of education providers worldwide, including universities, vocational providers and state schools in Australia.

Instructure, the US company behind Canvas, said it had recently experienced a criminal cyber incident and believed it had now contained the security issue while investigations continued.

The company said the information involved appeared to include identifying details of users at affected institutions.

Among the data believed to have been compromised are names, email addresses, student ID numbers, locations of study and messages between users.

Australia's National Office of Cyber Security is coordinating a response.

The breach matters because Canvas is used by almost 9,000 institutions globally, making it a central platform for schools and universities that hold large volumes of personal information.

The incident has already prompted institutions in several Australian states to review their systems and communications with students and staff.

The row supplied says affected providers in Australia include state schools in Queensland and Tasmania, universities in New South Wales and South Australia, and TAFE in Tasmania.

It also says tens of thousands of Queensland students and teachers may be among those exposed through state school use of the platform since 2020.

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