Nationwide security breach involving Canvas

Learn more
Skip to main content
May 4, 2026 Ongoing

Nationwide security breach involving Canvas

Update

May 8, 2026 8:51 pm

As of this evening, Friday, May 8, Canvas is accessible to Rutgers users. OIT will continue to monitor closely as we work to restore our normal operations following the Canvas global outage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Office of Information Technology Help Desk by calling 833-OIT-HELP and choosing option 7.

Update

May 8, 2026 6:54 pm

Rutgers will reinstate access to basic Canvas tools and features at approximately 9 p.m. tonight following consultations with experts and a consortium of other universities affected by the global Canvas outage. We will continue to monitor Canvas closely as we work to restore our normal operations.

Update

May 8, 2026 11:25 am

Canvas access remains suspended at Rutgers while OIT assesses the safety and stability of the system following the global outage. Users currently logged into Canvas should close their browsers and clear their cache. Additional details about exams and final coursework will continue to come from your campus.

Update

May 7, 2026 10:44 pm

We are actively monitoring the global system outage impacting Canvas. Each campus will share communications with students, faculty, and staff providing campus-specific information regarding exams and coursework.

Update

May 7, 2026 6:00 pm

Rutgers is evaluating next steps due to the interruption of Canvas during the exam period. The university understands that student exams, project submissions, and other efforts may have been interrupted due to this incident. Thousands of institutions are dealing with this incident as well. Additional information will be provided to students, faculty, and staff as it becomes available.

Update

May 7, 2026 4:31 pm

The Office of Information Technology is aware of an unauthorized message posted to Canvas related to the nationwide data breach at Instructure. Canvas may have limited or no availability for certain users. The Office of Information Technology is investigating and will post updates as they become available.

Update

May 6, 2026 5:43 pm

Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, has notified Rutgers that the university was impacted by a widespread data breach affecting thousands of institutions.

Instructure informed the Office of Information Technology that there is no indication that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers, or financial information were involved in this incident. It is unclear what Rutgers data was involved, and Instructure’s investigation is ongoing.

Canvas is fully operational, and Canvas users do not need to take any action in connection with this incident at this time. Instructure has informed Rutgers and other impacted universities that it has taken steps to secure the platform, including remediating the underlying vulnerability. Additionally, Instructure has engaged a third-party forensics firm for an investigation and notified law enforcement authorities.

The university is actively working with Instructure to learn more about the impact of the incident and will provide updates when additional information is available.

Investigating

May 4, 2026 11:18 am

The Office of Information Technology is aware of a nationwide security incident involving Canvas, the university’s learning management system. We are actively monitoring updates from Instructure and assessing any impact to university services.

This is a vendor-driven, nationwide event affecting multiple institutions.

At present, Rutgers has not been notified of any direct impact to our campus. Canvas remains available and operational to Rutgers faculty, staff, and students.

Updates from Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, are available on their status page. OIT will continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as new information emerges.




If you are experiencing any issues not listed here, please contact the OIT Help Desk at 848-445-HELP (4357) or send a message to help@oit.rutgers.edu.

← Back to Current Alerts & Notices