Update | Tuesday 12 may 16:16 h
As per Wednesday 13 May at 15.00 h, UT has restored access to Canvas for both students and teachers. Teachers received access a day earlier, to retrieve teaching materials. The platform was closely monitored. There were no indications that student documents had been affected.
For students and lecturers, the situation currently requires some improvisation. ‘People are handling it pragmatically and coming up with all sorts of creative solutions,’ says Vreeman. ‘They are setting up WhatsApp groups, , creating Teams for certain courses, using file transfer websites to exchange large files, or simply working through email.’
According to Vreeman, the UT community has remained relatively calm about the hack, although the situation is far from ideal. ‘Some lecturers said they had to come up with all sorts of last-minute workarounds this weekend to keep classes running, but so far everyone has stayed fairly level-headed about it.’
On 4 May, it became clear that Instructure, the American company behind Canvas, had been hacked. Names, email addresses, student numbers, and exchanges between students and lecturers were compromised. UT is still investigating whether Twente-related data was affected, but Instructure has not yet provided clarity on that matter.
