Both local school systems notified school staff and families Thursday of a cybersecurity incident involving Instructure, which is the parent company of Canvas, which is used by both the Greene County and Greeneville City School Systems.
Both school systems sent notices that Instructure reported it experienced a criminal cybersecurity incident but that the incident appeared to have been contained. While Canvas was down for several hours on Thursday, May 7, the company has restored access to users as of Friday, May 8.
In Salt Lake City, Utah, Steve Daly, the CEO of Instructure, apologized after the nationwide cyberattack on Canvas causing a major data breach for many schools across the country served by the company. He wrote a letter addressing the Instructure community. Canvas is now fully back online and available, according to an update from the company.
According to information provided by the company, the data involved appears to include names, email addresses, student ID numbers, and messages between Canvas users. At this time, Instructure has stated that there is no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identification numbers, or financial information were involved.
School officials are continuing to monitor this situation closely and are awaiting additional updates from Instructure regarding next steps.
In the meantime , all students, staff, and families are reminded to remain cyber-vigilant and cautious with emails or messages that reference classes, assignments, student ID numbers, school accounts, or Canvas conversations. Also avoid clicking on suspicious links, opening unexpected attachments, or providing login information in response to an email or message.
