On behalf of the UNM CIO - Updates on the ongoing Canvas situation
Canvas Vendor Security Incident Update #3 — May 2026
5.21.26, 4:30 p.m.: The recent cybersecurity incident that affected Canvas services worldwide, including the outage on May 7, interrupted faculty and student access to the system at a critical time in the semester for UNM and thousands of other schools. The disclosure by Instructure (the maker of Canvas) that an unauthorized party had potentially gained access to some UNM data caused further concern. UNM faculty and students are understandably disappointed and frustrated with what has occurred in this incident.
UNM staff have received updates from Instructure and have consulted with cybersecurity experts to better understand the incident and the data involved. On May 11th, Instructure CEO Steve Daly shared with the community that Instructure had reached an agreement with the unauthorized actor to destroy the data that was taken from Instructure’s systems. Instructure’s Security Incident Update & FAQs has more details about the incident and will remain the most up-to-date source of information.
Instructure expects that it will take several weeks to complete their investigations, and they will share information with UNM regarding any data that may have been exposed as it becomes available.
UNM will continue to monitor this and will provide another campus update once those details are shared. For the latest updates on UNM IT services, including Canvas, please visit https://italerts.unm.edu.
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On behalf of the UNM CIO - Updates on the ongoing Canvas situation
Canvas Vendor Security Incident Update #2 — May 2026
5.8.26, 4:30 p.m.: UNM is providing this update to help keep our community informed on the current state of the UNM Canvas service and Spring 2026 course completion.
Final examinations will proceed as scheduled May 11-16, 2026. However, the Canvas service outage on May 7, 2026, from approximately 2:30 p.m. to 9:17 p.m.* may have had an impact on completion in Canvas of assignments and exams due on May 7, 2026 or thereafter.
If you have not already heard from your course instructors about adjustments to time for completion of assignments impacted by the outage, please communicate directly with them about time needed for assignment completion. Deadlines for assignments or exams due before yesterday’s outage are not subject to adjustment. It is always recommended that you maintain a record of your completed and graded course work.
For those students with accessibility accommodations, please communicate with your instructor and the Accessibility Resource Center, as needed, to address any adjustments necessitated by yesterday's outage.
Please see the Security Incident Update & FAQs from Instructure on the Canvas outage. UNM IT is monitoring the situation and will communicate more information as needed.
For the latest information on UNM Canvas, please visit italerts.unm.edu.
* This is a preliminary estimate. The impacted period may have been longer for some users.
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Canvas Vendor Security Incident Update #1 — May 2026
5.7.26, 8:12 p.m.: UNM is providing this update to help keep our community informed on the current state of the UNM Canvas service.
This afternoon, May 7, 2026, the UNM community temporarily lost access to UNM’s Canvas service in what appears to be a global service interruption. This interruption was not part of any “scheduled maintenance” coordinated with UNM. UNM Information Technologies is closely monitoring the situation and will provide further updates as we learn more from Canvas.
UNM is aware that this situation is occurring during a very busy time in the academic calendar. We are prepared to work with faculty and students on contingency plans if the outage is prolonged. In the event of an extended outage, UNM will be updating the Canvas web page with UNM-specific instructions for students, faculty and staff.
You may follow the latest updates at: https://italerts.unm.edu and https://status.instructure.com.
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5.7.26, 5:33 p.m.: The University of New Mexico is aware of a cybersecurity incident involving Instructure, the company that provides the Canvas learning management system used by UNM. Our teams are actively monitoring the situation. Additional updates and communications will be shared as more information becomes available.
