Worldwide Canvas cyber incident

Thu, 07 May 2026 17:59:00 -0400

VCU is aware of a worldwide cyber incident involving Instructure (Canvas), VCU's learning management system.

Instructure informed VCU and thousands of other institutions worldwide of a data breach in its systems. Information that may have been involved includes names, institutional email addresses, student ID numbers, and private Canvas messages. Instructure reports no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers, or financial information were compromised.

It is not yet confirmed what VCU data has been impacted, but Canvas has been taken offline and VCU will work with Instructure to restore service as soon as possible. Additionally, VCU is advising all students, faculty and staff to be aware of this incident and to not click on any links, visit any advertised sites from Canvas, or open unsolicited messages or emails that appear related to Instructure or Canvas. Report anything suspicious to the IT Support Center, itsc@vcu.edu or call 804-828-2227. Faculty should reach out to their students with instructions about courses and finals.

VCU is actively monitoring the situation and will share relevant updates with the community as soon as we are able.

UPDATE: Fire Alarm Panel Malfunction

Thu, 07 May 2026 15:46:00 -0400

3:00 p.m. Due to a technical malfunction with VCU’s fire alarm panel system, automatic monitoring is currently down on both the MPC and MCV campuses. VCU Health facilities are not impacted.

Fire alarms will still activate within buildings, and fire suppression systems remain operational. However, automatic alerting to officials may be offline in some buildings. All fire alarm activations should be reported to 9-1-1 while restoration of the automatic system continues.

VCU Alerts

Worldwide Canvas cyber incident

UPDATE: Fire Alarm Panel Malfunction