SPOKANE, Wash – Millions of college students may have had their data stolen in a cyberattack targeting Canvas, a widely used learning management system that serves local universities including Gonzaga University, University of Idaho and Eastern Washington University.
Instructure, the company behind Canvas, confirmed a cybersecurity incident occurred last Friday. Canvas serves as a cloud-based learning platform used by almost 40 percent of higher education institutions nationwide.
A student at Eastern Washington University shared this screenshot when they logged into canvas on Thursday afternoon.
The hacking group “Shiny Hunters” claims responsibility for the breach and says they have accessed private messages between students, teachers and administrators. The group has threatened to begin releasing stolen information if Instructure does not meet their demands.
Eastern Washington University issued a statement Wednesday addressing the security breach. The university said the compromised data does not include passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers or financial information.
“We do not yet have information about whose information at EWU may have been impacted by this breach,” the university stated.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
© 2026 KAYU FOX 28. All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted without written permission.
