Hacker group ShinyHunters demanded ransom from school districts, including De Anza College, on May 7, or it will leak private information from the Canvas Learning Management System.
The group requested ransom by May 12.
Canvas processes individual-identifying data, such as emails, names, institution data and user-generated content such as homework and messages, according to its website. The hackers said nearly 9,000 schools could be affected worldwide, TechCrunch reported.
Though the data breach was vendorside, Foothill-De Anza College Educational Technology Services technician Alan Nguyen said the department is working on the issue and suggested students change their password and not log into the software.
At the time of reporting, the department said it does not know when the issue will be resolved.
“It is forcing us to be more creative in how we are going to engage students outside of campus, temporarily or absolutely,” Nathaniel Tan, ethnic studies instructor, said.
Jesus Becerril Ranagl, 18, mechanical engineering major, said the ransomware impact might not matter as much.
“I don’t put too much (data) on there,” Becerril Ranagl said. “I don’t know what goes down under the surface on the back end.”
Abel Rocha, 24, nursing major, said he feels “vulnerable and unsafe” about the safety of his data.
“It’s an attack on students’ identity,” Rocha said. “Just imagine what more (the hackers) can do.”
ShinyHunters claimed to hack into Canvas on May 5 and steal students’ names, emails and personal addresses, which Canvas confirmed, according to TechCrunch.
In 2020 ShinyHunters was on a “rampage” and hacked tens of millions of data from e-commerce sites and businesses in India and Indonesia, according to Wired.
Students and instructors from Harvard University and Skyline College shared with La Voz News that their Canvas had been disabled amid the hack.
This is a developing story. More live updates will follow soon.
