The learning management system Canvas suffered a nationwide outage Thursday, causing a disruption on college campuses across the country, before the platform was restored early Friday.

According to several Massachusetts schools, the platform was affected by a cybersecurity incident, which rendered the site useless for users.

Instructure, Canvas’ parent company, said it detected unauthorized activity on April 26 and "immediately revoked the unauthorized party's access" and started an investigation. Instructure on Thursday identified additional unauthorized activity tied to the same incident.

"The unauthorized actor made changes to the pages that appeared when some students and teachers were logged in through Canvas. Out of caution, we temporarily took Canvas offline into maintenance mode to contain the activity, investigate, and apply additional safeguards," a spokesperson said.

Instructure also said that the unauthorized actor carried out the activity by exploiting an issue related to its Free-For-Teacher accounts.

"As a result, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily shut down Free-For-Teacher accounts. These accounts have been a core part of our platform, and we're committed to resolving the issues with these accounts. In the meantime, Canvas is fully back online and available for use."

Canvas was operational Friday morning, but the danger may not be over.

"First I would say change your password. And second, be vigilant about phishing emails that may try to trick, you into revealing more personal information," said Romilla Syed, a professor of information technology and data analytics.

Syed warned there are cases where hackers could find financial information indirectly.

"If they have integrated Canvas with other systems, such as student registration platforms that usually host information, such as, you know, W2s or financial information, all sorts that perhaps they could have got their hands on those additional sensitive data," she said.

UMass Amherst junior Robyn Tyler described her experience during the hack.

"The screen just flashed, and I got, like, a hacking message, and I couldn't access anything," Tyler said.

The hacking group named ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach at Instructure, the company behind Canvas, said Luke Connolly, a threat analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emisoft.

Screenshots he provided showed that the group began threatening on Sunday to leak a trove of data, giving deadlines of Thursday and May 12. Connolly said the later date indicates that discussions regarding extortion payments may be ongoing.

Several local universities were affected, including Harvard University, MIT, Boston College, UMass Amherst and Northeastern University.

UMass Lowell announced that Friday's scheduled final exams would be delayed until Monday due to the outage.

Student Staelle Phanord shared how the outage impacted her plans for finals.

"I emailed my professor and asked her if I could make it up, if there were any other alternatives to my exam, and she said I could come in today — in her office and make it up," Phanord said.

For some students, including Phanord, Friday was supposed to be their last day on campus.

"Both of my parents are helping me move out today," Phanord said.

Northeastern addressed the outage, confirming on its website "that Instructure, the company that provides Canvas, is responding to a major cybersecurity incident affecting its platform across the education sector."

Northeastern students and faculty were advised to refrain from using the platform until the issue was resolved.

The student newspaper at Harvard reported that the system was down there, too.

Public school districts also sought to reassure parents, with officials in Spokane, Washington, writing that they aren't "aware of any sensitive data contained in this breach."

Connolly described ShinyHunters as a loose affiliation of teenagers and young adults based in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The group also has been tied to other attacks, including one aimed at Live Nation’s Ticketmaster subsidiary.

NewsCenter 5 will continue to provide updates as we learn more information.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

American consumers lost a total of $2.1 billion to scams on social media last year, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s latest Consumer Sentinel Network report.

That’s eight times more than what consumers lost in 2020. Social media is becoming a preferred contact method for scammers, according to the FTC. Nearly 30% of individuals who reported losing money to scams said it began on social media.

The social media platform with the highest reported monetary losses was Facebook, with Americans losing $794 million to scams that began on that platform. That’s more than what people lost to text or email scams. WhatsApp was nearly half of Facebook at $425 million and Instagram was $234 million.

Scammers are using social media to hack into accounts to target those accounts’ friends, as well as create fake profiles. They are also buying fake ads to lure users into purchasing items that never arrive or are counterfeit.

It’s not just online shopping scams that are tricking people. Investment scams that began on social media caused the biggest reported losses at $1.1 billion. These scams often claim to teach individuals how to invest or pose as friendly financial advisors.

Romance scams made up the second-highest reported losses among scams that began on social media. Nearly 60% of people who reported romance scams said they started on social media and cost Americans $298 million.

Scams on social media are not targeting just one age group; they are impacting people across most age groups. Social media was the most costly fraud contact for every age group under 80 and was the most reported contact method for several age groups.

Almost all age groups saw a decrease in median reported losses last year. Adults ages 80 and over saw an increase, with median losses rising from $1,650 in 2024 to $2,000 in 2025.

But the FTC warns that because most scams are not reported to the government, the real losses are likely much higher.

How to stay safe

What the FTC recommends:

• Limit who can see your posts and contacts on social media.
• Never let someone you meet on social media guide your investment decisions, and learn how to spot investment scams.
• Before buying an item from an ad, check whether the company is actually offering that deal and whether anyone has filed a complaint about the deal being a scam.

Learn more about how to spot, avoid, and report scams by visiting ftc.gov/scams.

Have you heard of any of these fastest-rising U.S. baby names from last year?

A list of the most popular and fastest-rising U.S. baby names of 2025 is out, according to new data released by the Social Security Administration.

The top names probably look familiar: Both Olivia and Liam have topped the list for the most popular girls' and boys' names for seven consecutive years, respectively.

Watch the video above to see more of the most popular and fastest-rising U.S. baby names of 2025

However, the fastest-rising baby names of 2025 skew a bit differently.

The boys' name that increased the most in popularity last year was Kasai. It means "fire" in both Japanese and Swahili.

Meanwhile, Klarity was the girls' name that increased the most in popularity. It's a name "evoking brightness and light," according to SSA.

Go here to see the list of the top 1,000 boys' and girls' names.

About 14% of people in the US have the same 25 first names. How common is yours?