On May  7, 2026, Instructure, the company that manages Canvas, experienced a cyberattack, restricting students and teachers from accessing  classroom material that is essential in many schools. The group behind this hack gave the company an ultimatum, demanding money or they would leak information on teachers and students throughout the world. The exact amount of money they commanded is undisclosed, but cybersecurity experts estimated the amount to be roughly 10 million to 13 million US dollars. 

“Yes, my canvas was affected. At first, I heard it from one of the Juniors about the situation rising again, so I went to see if mine was not working. Then it said a message that was ‘ongoing maintenance.’ It was inconvenient because I needed to check a Canvas daily agenda for class and turn in my summative religion project due the next day before class,” said Zoey Gavin (‘28). 

The parent company of Canvas, Instructure, reached an agreement with the hackers, in which they agreed to delete stolen data and prevent any of it from leaking. The hackers then returned stolen logs and provided proof of destruction. 

Even though Canvas is functioning normally again, teachers and students at AHN must be wary of distrustful emails supposedly coming from Canvas. Hackers still have some information and could be posing as teachers, students, or the school. 

Watch out for these signs that could occur for teachers and students. 

1. Emails about “urgent” issues regarding the school or assignments.
2. Emails asking to click on a link to “secure” or “verify” Canvas accounts.
3. Emails sent from addresses pretending to be Canvas.

This hack can cause concern to individuals and families, but there are ways to prevent anything bad from happening.

1. Check and verify email addresses from suspicious emails before responding or clicking anything.
2. Avoid opening any links attached to dubious emails.
3. Directly contact the school by using a trusted email or phone number.
4. Encourage others around Academy to not share personal information or passwords via email.

Although this situation could cause panic for parents, students, or faculty members, it is important to remain calm and remember these ways to avoid something detrimental from happening.