Chelsea Bossert Michigan Technological University was reported as one of the many Michigan universities affected by the recent Canvas LMS data breach on Thursday. Student ID numbers, email addresses, names and messages within Canvas, were reported to be hacked.

HOUGHTON — Canvas, the learning management system (LMS) used by Michigan Technological University students and faculty, and institutions across the nation, was hacked Thursday. Those who used the website across the country in K-12 school and universities found a ransom note pasted onto the site’s home page, from a group called ShinyHunters who claimed to have breached the site and collected sensitive data from the parent company, Instructure.

University Marketing and Communications (UMC) at Michigan Tech did not release any comment regarding the extent of damage caused to students and faculty from the hack, but instead relayed a statement given to a downstate media outlet Friday.

“We are aware of the international cybersecurity incident involving Canvas,” UMC said. “We are actively monitoring the situation and communicating with campus stakeholders regarding the issue.”

According to The Associated Press, the hack was reported to have affected many different students’ final exam windows across the country. Michigan Tech’s spring recess ended today and “Track A” summer classes began.

ShinyHunters alleges it breached data on May 1, approximately six days before the ransom note began appearing on schools’ Canvas homepages. Multiple outlets reported the data stolen was over 3.65 terabytes.

According to an update from Instructure posted to its website Monday, the parent company reached a deal with the group responsible for the data breach and subsequent ransom. From the agreement, Instructure confirmed the stolen data was returned, data destruction logs were obtained and no consumers were extorted.

It is unclear at this time whether or not the data retrieval involved payment from Instructure or whether the group involved was ShinyHunters.

According to The Institute of Education Sciences, over 21 million schools in both K-12 and higher education use Canvas. It is the most prominent LMS in the country.

ShinyHunters put out a list of schools it claimed to have stolen data from on May 7. The data breach included student ID numbers, email addresses, names and messages within the LMS, Instructure Chief Information Officer, Steve proud, said. Many colleges and universities in Michigan were on the list, including Michigan Tech.

In the May 11 statement, Instructure said the settlement was reached to reassure consumers it took necessary steps to secure their data and to ease public worry.

“While there is never complete certainty when dealing with cyber criminals, we believe it was important to take every step within our control to give customers additional peace of mind, to the extent possible,” Instructure wrote. “We continue to work with expert vendors to support our forensic analysis, further harden our environment, and conduct a comprehensive review of the data involved.”

Instructure added it is planning a webinar involving its infrastructure leadership and is on the books for today.