THERE IS no evidence of unauthorized access or data compromise in UST’s learning management system Canvas following a reported security incident involving its parent company, Instructure, according to the UST Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT).
In a memorandum dated May 11, the OICT said forensic investigations conducted by Instructure found no unauthorized access, leaked account information or data exfiltration in the system.
“Forensic investigations have confirmed no evidence of an unauthorized access establishing persistence, compromising account credentials, or exfiltrating data within the University’s Canvas instance,” the document read.
It cited an official report issued by Instructure chief executive officer Steve Daly on May 8, which stated that the security incident was confined to “Free-For-Teacher” accounts, a different service tier from the enterprise license used by the University.
This came after news broke out that Instructure was hit by a cyberattack that was affecting schools worldwide.
The hacking group ShinyHunters took responsibility for the breach, saying it gained access to data from millions of users from nearly 9,000 schools and universities. The information allegedly included names, email addresses, course details and messages between teachers and students.
Despite this, the OICT assured users that Canvas remains safe to use, noting that maintenance work conducted on May 9 and 10 had strengthened the platform’s security.
However, it reminded students and employees to update their passwords regularly, enable multi-factor authentication and stay alert for phishing emails and suspicious links.
The two-day maintenance was a precautionary measure to enhance system safeguards after the reported incident, the OICT said in a previous memorandum. It was carried out in coordination with the Educational Technology Center and the Santo Tomas e-Service providers.
Students and faculty experiencing access issues were advised to verify that they are signed in using their official UST accounts and to clear their browser cache if the problem persists.
On Tuesday, May 12, Instructure said it had settled an agreement with the hackers to recover the stolen data and ensure that any copies were deleted, adding that no customers would be subjected to extortion.
“While there is never complete certainty when dealing with cybercriminals, we believe it was important to take every step within our control to give customers additional peace of mind, to the extent possible,” the company said in a statement released on its official website. F
