{"id":293,"date":"2026-05-08T17:01:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T17:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dallasrelocationhubs.com\/?p=293"},"modified":"2026-05-08T17:01:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T17:01:38","slug":"a-day-after-canvas-cyberattack-north-texas-schools-are-assessing-the-damage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dallasrelocationhubs.com\/?p=293","title":{"rendered":"A day after Canvas cyberattack, North Texas schools are assessing the damage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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North Texas schools are\u00a0assessing the damage left from a\u00a0<\/span>data breach affecting the educat<\/span><\/span>ion\u00a0<\/span><\/span>plat<\/span><\/span>form<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Canvas<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>

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A group known as\u00a0ShinyHunters\u00a0launched a cyberattack against the platform\u2019s parent company, Instructure, threatening to release data\u00a0stolen from colleges and school districts that use the platform if the company\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0agree to pay\u00a0a\u00a0ransom.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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The attack interrupted service nationwide. Although access was restored Friday, school districts and colleges are still dealing with fallout from the breach.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Related:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>What is Canvas<\/span>, the online platform used by schools nationwide hit by a cyberattack?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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On Thursday,\u00a0Daniel Ramirez, chief information security officer for the\u00a0Texas Education Agency,\u00a0released guidance to school districts\u00a0advising\u00a0them on steps they should take, including reviewing account security and monitoring for suspicious activity.\u00a0The agency is working directly with Instructure through the Fort Worth-based Education Service Center 11,\u00a0Ramirez\u00a0said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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A number of\u00a0North Texas districts sent notices to parents about the attack. In a letter\u00a0sent Friday morning, Garland ISD officials assured parents that the district\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0store any sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, home\u00a0addresses\u00a0or passwords in Canvas.\u00a0The district manages grades through Skyward, a separate platform, officials said, and students\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0be penalized for not turning in any assignments that were affected by the breach.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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The breach hit\u00a0universities across the country, like Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Michigan, according to their student newspapers. Several\u00a0North\u00a0Texas\u00a0schools\u00a0lost access\u00a0to Canvas,\u00a0including Southern Methodist University, the University of North Texas System,\u00a0Baylor University, and Tarrant County College.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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The\u00a0cyberattack\u00a0came just as students were preparing for final exams.\u00a0At SMU, final exams scheduled for Friday were postponed until Sunday, officials said in a Thursday email.\u00a0The\u00a0same day,\u00a0Baylor University also announced\u00a0plans to delay final exams scheduled for Friday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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The\u00a0University\u00a0of Texas at Arlington\u00a0said\u00a0its\u00a0Information Security office is assessing the impact on students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Read more Baby eaglets ruffle some feathers at White Rock Lake as they learn to fly<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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According to\u00a0<\/span>its\u00a0<\/span>w<\/span>ebsite<\/span><\/span>, Tarrant County College\u00a0is\u00a0monitoring\u00a0the situation, noting that the \u201cbreach remains isolated.\u201d\u00a0There is no evidence that passwords, financial\u00a0information\u00a0or\u00a0social\u00a0security\u00a0numbers\u00a0were compromised, the school said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fort Worth ISD and Canvas attack<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>
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Ale\u00a0Checka, a teacher at Southwest High School in Fort Worth ISD, said leaders at her school sent out an email Thursday\u00a0advising teachers to\u00a0shut down their computers and make sure their students had done the same. The school librarian, who also handles tech issues, then went to every teacher and asked them to make sure their phones were off the school\u2019s\u00a0WiFi\u00a0network, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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On Friday morning, the school\u2019s principal announced that teachers and students could get back online but should still avoid logging into Canvas. That was a major disruption for teachers,\u00a0Checka\u00a0said. Students\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0access or\u00a0submit\u00a0assignments through the platform. Many teachers had entire lesson modules stored in Canvas and\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0had paper copies for years, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Checka said she was less affected than some of her colleagues because she avoids using the platform as much as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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\u201cIt\u2019s just a pain in the butt, and that\u2019s on the best day,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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The Canvas breach\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0the first time Fort Worth ISD has dealt with cybersecurity issues. In March 2020, just days before the pandemic shut down campuses, a malware attack shut down the district\u2019s website and computer network. That attack was more disruptive,\u00a0Checka\u00a0said, because it not only prevented them from communicating with students, but also prevented them from using the network to communicate with each other.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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\u201cOn\u00a0the scale of disruptive ransomware attacks, this one is less bad,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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North Texas school districts, colleges affected by Canvas outage<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>
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Catch up on the latest news and top stories from across North Texas, with updates in the morning and evening.<\/div><\/h2><\/div><\/div>