Data of around 1,700 people potentially compromised in Canvas data breach
By John Last
The data of around 1,700 N.W.T. teachers, educational staff, government employees, program participants and contractors may have been compromised in a data breach targeting the Canvas educational platform earlier this month, the territorial government has announced.
Compromised information may include names, email addresses and enrollment or professional development training information, according to a news release issued Thursday.
“No passwords were accessed or compromised,” the territory said in the news release.
“The [government of the Northwest Territories] Canvas learning management system does not contain financial or other sensitive personal information, as this type of data is not collected or stored within the system.”
On May 5, the territory was informed of the attack by Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, a digital platform for managing online learning, the release said.
The territory immediately began to assess the scope of the breach and informed the territory’s information and privacy commissioner.
CBC requested information on May 8 about the impact of the cyberattack on N.W.T. schools but did not receive a response.
Instructure struck a deal with the hacker group behind the attack, obtaining digital verification the data was destroyed.
In a May 11 statement, the company said it received an assurance that none of its customers would be extorted “as a result of this incident, publicly or otherwise” and specified that “there is no need for individual customers to attempt to engage with the unauthorized actor.”
The territory’s release advised affected users to remain vigilant anyway, and avoid clicking on emails, links or attachments from unknown senders.
According to the hacker group, the data of more than 275 million people were impacted by the cyberattack.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Laptop with health data stolen from Northern Canadian gov was unencrypted, CBC News
Iceland: Europe’s Von der Leyen strengthens Arctic security ties with Iceland during visit, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: Russian cyber attacks, espionage pose growing threat to Finnish national security, Yle News
United States: University of Alaska Anchorage to lead center of excellence on Arctic security, Eye on the Arctic
