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Sofia Barnett

Sofia Barnett is a University News editor overseeing the faculty and higher education beat. She is a junior from Texas studying history and English nonfiction and enjoys freelancing in her free time.

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The ransom note, set as white text against a black screen in a red box, reads: "SHINYHUNTERS
rooting your systems since '19 ;)
ShinyHunters has breached Instructure (again).
Instead of contacting us to resolve it they ignored us and did some "security patches".
WARNING
If any of the schools in the affected list are interested in preventing the release of their data, please consult with a cyber advisory firm and contact us privately at TOX to negotiate a settlement. You have till the end of the day by 12 May 2026 before everything is leaked.
Instructure still has until EOD 12 May 2026 to contact us," along with instructions to download affected schools lists and go to their website.

Max Robinson

Brown Canvas ransom note.jpeg

By Max Robinson | May 7

The ransom note appeared on the Brown Canvas website Thursday afternoon, making course pages inaccessible.

Image of a laptop displaying the ransom note.

Max Robinson

Ritter, Feil_Canvas hacked_CO_Max_Robinson.jpeg

By Max Robinson | May 7

At 4:41 p.m, Instructure wrote that they “are currently investigating this issue” on their status website.

A close-up photo of Brown's Grad Center.

Dana Richie

50532e34-8682-4db2-bbb0-8dfe888f8155.sized-1000x1000.jpg

By Dana Richie | May 7

The GSC will recruit interim chairs to serve in unclaimed positions over the summer.

Solutions by The State News