{"id":197758,"date":"2026-05-08T16:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=197758"},"modified":"2026-05-08T17:05:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T15:05:01","slug":"canvas-down-this-couldnt-happen-at-a-worse-time-today-is-my-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2026\/05\/08\/canvas-down-this-couldnt-happen-at-a-worse-time-today-is-my-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Canvas down: \u2018This couldn\u2019t happen at a worse time\u2026 Today is my deadline\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A cyberattack on Canvas has urged the university to shut down the course software, leaving students locked out of their classes materials and unable to submit assignments. Students are angry, anxious, and scared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFemke Legu\u00e9<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some students are not able to continue their work within their personal schedule. Others are missing assignments deadlines and are demanding answers about how this could impact exam dates. \u201cI have four exams in June, hence why staying on track is really important. I am wondering if this will influence exam dates or exam content\u201d, says Lee-Ann Curtis, a third\u00a0 year Psychology student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Course materials on Dropbox<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some teachers already started sharing class materials with students through Dropbox, although using external platforms is officially discouraged by the university. This is a solution that Lee-Ann would be interested in if the situation doesn\u2019t change soon. \u201cSince I still have a month and I\u2019m expecting it to be fixed by Monday the latest, my worries and frustrations are still low. But if this becomes a longer lasting issue, I will try to get the materials via the course coordinator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lack of information<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even though the platform was shut down only last night after it got hacked for a second time, students are frustrated that this wasn\u2019t communicated quicker and better. Just like Lee-Ann expresses her confusion over not being able to find more information on the Erasmus website, others are affected by this lack of updates too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t clear to me that Canvas was going to be shut down. I don\u2019t understand why they didn\u2019t put an announcement on the main page. I only found out from the Dutch news yesterday saying that a lot of people got affected due to the privacy breach\u201d, adds Mariana Stapel, a Communications and Media student. The university put a message on the main MyEUR page on Friday morning. \u201cI\u2019m a third-year student, I\u2019m already struggling so much managing everything else, I don\u2019t want to be thinking about whether I can access Canvas or not. I just want to do my work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Affected deadlines<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis couldn\u2019t happen at a worse time\u2026 Today is my deadline for my project submission\u201d, says Tomek Zaj\u0105ka\u0142a, a Strategic Management student. \u201cFortunately for me, I\u2019ve been working on it for the past week and have every material and necessary requirement downloaded on my laptop. So, I guess I just have to message my professor to ask where I should submit it. But it\u2019s weird that they haven\u2019t contacted us already to give us that information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the end of the year approaching, many students are working on their thesis and have tight deadlines for each chapter. Viktoria Radeva, studying Media and Business, is one of them. \u201cI\u2019m currently writing my thesis and this morning I had a meeting with my supervisor. She told me that I need to add information about credibility and for that I should look into the Media Methods course, which is only available on Canvas. So right now I can\u2019t write and finish my methodology part and have to wait for Canvas to be up again\u201d, she says. \u201cWhile I\u2019m not nervous yet, if this isn\u2019t fixed soon it\u2019s going to mess up my schedule a lot. It will be very hard to catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though students understand the worries over a privacy breach, the weight of their deadlines can be more overwhelming to them. \u201cWhile my data being leaked sounds super scary, I\u2019m more worried about not being able to finish my thesis on time\u201d, admits Viktoria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stress over data leaks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Others are also worried about their personal data. Third year History student Pantelis Antonakakis finds it \u2018ridiculous and so upsetting\u2019. \u201cIt\u2019s tiring to know that anyone can use my identity and I guess this is one of the reasons I\u2019m always getting spam phone calls. We should demand the university remove our data from wherever it was leaked. If not, we will buy Incogni (a service that helps individuals remove personal data online, ed.) for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t

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Een lijst met artikelen<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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