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No sensitive data leaked in global Canvas breach, Singapore MOE says

Malay Mail

SINGAPORE, May 17 — The Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) today said safeguards have been put in place following a global cyberattack on the local Canvas learning platform.

No sensitive information has been confirmed leaked so far, The Strait Times reported today, citing information from the Ministry of Education (MOE).

MOE said as of May 14, there have been no verified reports of compromised data involving affected institutions.

The ministry said it is working with impacted institutes of higher learning and will extend assistance where necessary.

Private education providers are also expected to comply with existing data protection laws and regulations, it added.

The National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), and several other local institutions were among those listed online as affected in the May 7 incident.

The Singapore newspaper reported that thousands of organisations globally, including major universities such as Harvard and Stanford, were also impacted.

NUS earlier said some personal details such as names and email addresses may have been exposed, but no passwords or sensitive credentials were compromised.

The cyberattack disrupted access to Canvas and was claimed by hacking group ShinyHunters, which has threatened to release stolen data from affected organisations.

However, Instructure, the US-based operator of Canvas, said it had reached an agreement with the attacker and claimed all data was returned with no further extortion planned.

The SIM said there was no evidence its systems were breached and no indication of leaked or publicly shared data.

It added that monitoring for phishing and suspicious activity targeting its users will continue.

The Singapore College of Insurance and Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants also said checks found no impact on their systems, adding that Canvas is only used for learning materials and does not store sensitive data.

 

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