A global cyber attack hit the platform Canvas used by California state universities, including CSU Monterey Bay, the first week of May, causing a major disruption for students and faculty. They could not access assignments, grades and any work they had uploaded into the system in the last few days of classes and just before finals are set to begin.
On Friday, May 8, California State University officials announced Canvas services had been restored, but they recommended students and staff be careful and take precautions.
“Please use caution and keep the following in mind as you use the service: The CSU will never ask for payment from faculty or students for the use of Canvas, including for examinations. In an abundance of caution, we strongly recommend that you download and save any important or necessary documents for added security,” according to the announcement.
A CSUMB spokesperson says that the campus’ Canvas access was restored by 1:30pm, Friday, after CSU officials worked with a third-party vendor, state partners and security teams to ensure all security protocols and validations were completed before restoration.
Final exams and end-of-semester activities are moving ahead as scheduled and administrators have asked faculty to be flexible with students who were impacted by the outage.