No, Colleges Can't Just Quit Canvas

"Canvas got back up and running after Instructure paid a ransom to ShinyHunters-the cybercrime gang that has hacked Canvas three times in the past year-to recover the stolen data, against conventional cybersecurity wisdom. While the move brought immediate relief to users, it also generated further frustration from many faculty members and students who remain skeptical that their data is safe. And in the fallout, some have suggested switching to another platform or building their own LMS."

"Despite all that, numerous experts told Inside Higher Ed that the public ire directed toward Canvas-which is used by 41 percent of higher education institutions across North America to deliver courses-likely won't be enough to topple its effective rule of the third-party LMS market; the second-most popular LMS, Blackboard, has about 17 percent of the market share."

""Of course it's going to damage their reputation, but I'm having trouble thinking of a time when a major security incident has truly had long-term fiscal impacts on a company," said Mike Corn, a strategic technology consultant and former chief information security officer for the University of California, San Diego. "It's a lot of work for an institution to change their learning management system, because they have thousands of classes that need to be ported over. It's typically a two- to three-year process.""

A massive data breach involving Canvas compromised personal data for about 275 million users and disrupted finals week at universities. Canvas’s parent company, Instructure, faced lawsuits and a congressional investigation. Canvas was restored after Instructure paid a ransom to ShinyHunters, a cybercrime gang that had hacked Canvas three times in the past year. The ransom payment provided immediate relief but increased skepticism among faculty and students about data safety. Some people suggested switching to other learning management systems or building new platforms. Experts indicated that public backlash is unlikely to topple Canvas’s dominance in the third-party LMS market because replacing an LMS is difficult and typically takes two to three years to port thousands of classes.

Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs