Instructure’s Canvas platform disruption stranded students during final exams and triggered school-by-school workarounds as IT teams assessed the incident. The breach affected nearly 9,000 schools and institutions worldwide, including portions of the University of Illinois system, according to reporting cited with the incident. The episode is now forcing higher-ed leaders to confront vendor concentration risk: Canvas functions as critical infrastructure, so switching course delivery methods quickly is operationally difficult. Institutions are weighing extension of deadlines, paused coursework, and emergency access measures while litigating or addressing impacts after the cyberattack.