Wits University confirmed that it was part of more than 8 000 educational institutions affected worldwide after a cyberattack that exposed sensitive student and staff information, reports the Northcliff Melville Times.

The Wits learning management system, Ulwazi, was affected by a cyberattack linked to a broader cybersecurity breach involving Instructure, the company responsible for managing Canvas, the platform on which Ulwazi operates.

The incident, which occurred on Thursday, briefly disrupted access to the university’s online learning system before services were restored. Wits communications manager Shirona Patel said that Ulwazi is now back online and that learning and teaching activities are continuing as scheduled.

Patel said Instructure informed Wits and universities around the world of a data breach affecting its systems.

“This appears to be because of an attack by a cyber extortion group. It seems like approximately 8 800 educational institutions worldwide are affected by this incident,” Patel said.

She added that sensitive information belonging to students and staff had been compromised during the breach. The exposed information includes names, email addresses, contact numbers and conversations contained within Canvas (Ulwazi) inboxes.

Patel said forensic investigations are currently underway at Instructure, with further details expected to be shared once more information becomes available.

The university has urged students and all Canvas (Ulwazi) users to remain cautious of unsolicited emails or messages claiming to come from the university or the platform itself, particularly messages requesting login credentials or personal information.

Users have also been warned not to click on suspicious links or download files connected to the incident.

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