Cyberattack shutters Canvas learning platform for schools across the U.S.

a person holding a tablet device with skull image near blackboard

A system that thousands of schools and universities use was offline Thursday due to a cyberattack, creating chaos as students tried to study for finals and underscoring education’s dependence on technology. The hacking group named ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach at Instructure, the company behind the learning management system Canvas, said Luke Connolly, a threat analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emisoft. CBS News has reached out to Instructure for comment. Late Thursday night, Instructure posted to a status log that Canvas was “now available for most users.”

Some of the universities that have reported being targeted include Penn State, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Columbia University and Union College New Jersey. UCLA was among several California schools that reported being crippled by the outage. Also impacted in the Chicago area were Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Illinois. In a message to students, Penn State said that “no one has access” to Canvas, and a “resolution” was not expected “within the next 24 hours.” The school said all tests scheduled for Thursday and Friday in its Pollock Testing Center were canceled. The student newspaper at Harvard reported that the system was down there, too. And public school districts also sought to reassure parents, with officials in Spokane, Washington, writing that they aren’t “aware of any sensitive data contained in this breach.” Canvas is used to manage grades, course notes, assignments, lecture videos and more. The hacking group posted online that nearly 9,000 schools worldwide were affected, with billions of private messages and other records accessed, Connolly said.

Source: Cyberattack shutters Canvas learning platform for schools across the U.S. – CBS News

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7:13-14

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5 injured in apartment building fire, reported explosion in Des Plaines

burning flame of a building on fire

Five people were injured in an apartment fire and reported explosion in Des Plaines, Illinois, overnight.   Firefighters responded to a fire at a three-story building at 1279 Harding Ave just before 1 a.m. and found heavy flames and smoke.  Video from the scene shows firefighters on ladders working to control the flames as emergency responders on the ground treated residents. Fire officials confirmed that multiple people were rescued from balconies.  Five people were taken to local hospitals with injuries of varying severity, the Des Plaines Fire Department said.  One neighbor told CBS News Chicago she heard a “very big explosion” followed by people yelling, “Help me.”  The cause of the fire and the reported explosion are under investigation.

Source: 5 injured in apartment building fire, reported explosion in Des Plaines – CBS Chicago

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5

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Cow runs loose on campus at University of Illinois

brown cow running on rural street

Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign got an utterly surprising visitor on campus on Wednesday.  A video posted by the university’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Illini, shows a cow roaming the streets before hiding in the bushes near the main quad.  Cow sightings have been circulating on social media. One TikTok video captures a group of students gathered at a classroom window observing the emergency response. The cow toured the campus before being captured by wildlife officials. A veterinarian is now evaluating the cow for a few minor injuries. 

Source: Cow runs loose on campus at University of Illinois – CBS Chicago

That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love.
Ephesians 3:16-17

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