Canvas cybersecurity breach
Stay informed about the Canvas cybersecurity breach.
This page was last updated at 11 am on Monday 11 May 2026.
What's happened
Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington has been notified of a cybersecurity incident in which bad actors have obtained data held within our learning management system.
This incident relates to data held in the cloud and used by Canvas, which is the software that runs Nuku. This is not a breach of our own university systems, and our other university systems are operating as usual without issues.
We understand it is possible that names, email addresses and student ID numbers may have been disclosed. It is also possible that the content of messages exchanged in Nuku are included in the data.
There is no suggestion of other student assessment data being compromised. There is also no indication that passwords or single sign-on credentials have been affected.
Teaching and learning
Changes may have already been made to your courses until 8 am on Wednesday. Your course coordinator will be in touch to give you clarity on changes for your courses over the next few days, including any ongoing implications for teaching and learning this trimester.
Course coordinators will also make appropriate arrangements to ensure you are not impacted unfairly if you have missed assignment deadlines as a result of Nuku being offline or have had less time to prepare for assessments.
What you can do and where to get help
Phishing is the most likely consequence if this incident is confirmed. To protect yourself from phishing and other fraudulent online activity, the National Cybersecurity Centre has valuable information on protecting yourself:
Learn the three most useful things you can do to protect yourself online with information about cybersecurity basics on our website.
If you need wellbeing support, reach out to the Tauria—Student Interest and Conflict Resolution team on studentinterest@vuw.ac.nz.
VUWSA Advocacy Services are also able to support you.
For technical support or urgent questions, email the Service Desk at servicedesk@vuw.ac.nz.