Instructure (Canvas) Confirms Data Breach, ShinyHunters Claims 275 Million Records
Instructure, the company behind the Canvas learning platform, confirmed a data breach on May 1, 2026, following a security incident detected on April 29, 2026.
Key points
- Instructure (Canvas) confirmed a data breach on May 1, 2026.
- ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the attack.
- Alleged theft of 3.65 TB of data from 275 million users across 9,000 institutions.
Connected intelligence
Signal brief
Follow the organization, likely method and potential impact to explore connected Shadow Tier intelligence.
Organization
- Published
- May 1, 2026
- Updated
- Jul 3, 2026
- Confidence
- High
- Evidence
- 15 sources
Structured assessment
Signal analysis
This analysis groups the signal by industry, likely incident action and impacted security area. It helps compare this signal with other published signals without treating the labels as final determinations.
Threat source
Watch exposure paths that could affect data, operations or third-party trust.
Business impact
- Impact area
- Confidentiality
- Likely asset
- User or customer data
Mentioned entities
Quick context
Questions about this signal
What happened in this signal?
Instructure, the company behind the Canvas learning platform, confirmed a data breach on May 1, 2026, following a security incident detected on April 29, 2026. The criminal threat actor ShinyHunters claimed responsibility, alleging the theft of 3.65 terabytes of data from approximately 275 million users across nearly 9,000 educational institutions. The compromised information includes names, email addresses, student ID numbers, and messages among users. Instructure stated that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers, or financial information were not involved.
When was this signal reported?
Shadow Tier lists May 1, 2026 as the signal date.
Which organization is connected to this signal?
Instructure is the organization connected to this public signal.
Explore InstructureRelated signals
Compare shared topics, actors and incident patterns before opening the full signal.
Origin Energy Discloses Data Breach Affecting 900,000 Customers
On July 28, 2026, Origin Energy, a major Australian energy company, publicly confirmed a significant data breach impacting approximately 900,000 current and former customers. The breach led to unauthorized access and exfiltration of personally identifiable information (PII), including names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, account details, and partial payment information such as the last four digits of credit cards or the BSB and last three digits of bank accounts. Origin Energy first identified a potential security threat in early July 2026, which was initially not deemed credible. However, new information on July 22, 2026, confirmed a security incident had occurred, prompting immediate action and notification of authorities. An alleged hacker provided a media outlet with a sample of 50 customer records and screenshots of internal Origin Energy systems, corroborating the data exfiltration. The incident is currently under investigation by Australian authorities, including the Australian Cyber Security Centre, the National Office of Cyber Security, the Australian Federal Police, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. The specific technical vector used for initial access remains undisclosed.
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Iowa State University's Canvas Learning Platform Breached, Student Data Exposed
Iowa State University's Canvas learning management system was breached on July 26, 2026, displaying a hacker message that blocked access to the website and all its pages. The message advised users to "consult with a cyber advisory firm" and to "contact us privately at TOX to negotiate a settlement." This incident is part of a larger series of over 9,000 attacks affecting various educational institutions. The hackers, identified as the criminal extortion group ShinyHunters, had previously caused an outage on Canvas and are also linked to data thefts from Ticketmaster and Google. The compromised data includes names, email addresses, student ID numbers, and internal messages. Iowa State IT Security issued an email addressing the outage and advised students to seek alternative submission methods for coursework. The university's news service director, Angie Hunt, confirmed that Iowa State is one of many institutions affected by a nationwide Canvas platform outage. Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, has not provided a timeframe for resolving the issue. The group ShinyHunters claimed to have stolen over 3.65 terabytes of data, encompassing approximately 275 million records belonging to students, teachers, and staff, and threatened to release this data if their demands were not met. While the affected data may include full names, email addresses, student ID numbers, and messages, there is no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers, or financial information were exposed. The sensitivity of some Canvas messages, which can contain medical and mental health information, adds to the concern. Officials are advising students, parents, and staff to be cautious of unsolicited messages claiming to be from Canvas or the university that request personal information or prompt immediate action. They also recommend monitoring accounts for unusual activity.
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South Korean Diplomatic Academy Suffers Significant Data Leak Affecting 10,000 Diplomats
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