OP: Just your luck
CHADRON – At the most convenient time of finals week, the universe decides that it wants almost every student to lose their minds. If you haven’t been keeping up with the news, well lucky you, your blood pressure didn’t rise to devastating levels. Earlier this week, there was news about a deadly Hantavirus which was nearly overshadowed by the cyberattack on Canvas.
Starting with the most concerning and recent issue due to the timeline and masses affected, Canas was attacked yesterday, May 7, mid finals week by a group of hackers called ShinyHunters. The group beached Canvas disrupting lives of students across 9000 school worldwide including our very own Chadron State College, threatening to leak data for a ransom. Instructure, the company behind Canvas, were quick to identify and rectify the issue, putting the website in maintenance to resolve the problem. They announced that they have revoked ShinyHunter’s access and are working to rebuild the safety of their tool. This comes with a suspension of the Fre-for-Teachers accounts temporarily, which was the source of the hack.
Students went on social media panicking and looking for answer as to why they couldn’t get their finals done. Many students voiced their grievances, some made light of the situation making jokes as a coping mechanism. What exactly do you do when Canvas shuts down in the middle of your grade-defining exam, you panic, cry, laugh. This was a very scary situation but, thankfully, it was quickly resolved. Hopefully, the students affected were able to get extensions from their professor.
Prior to the Canvas drama, it was the scare of the Hantavirus. The virus, scientically known as Orthohantavirus, is typically found in rodent, and according to the CDC, can be transferred to humans through their urine, droppings and saliva. On May 2 on a cruise ship, they confirmed cases of Hantavirus infections of the Andes strain. Although the ship hasn’t formally docked yet, WHO and other organizations are tracking those who have already disembarked that could potentially carry the virus. So far, the locations that have been breached are the U.S, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Cabo Verde.
This raised concerns and fears about a potential second pandemic. However, WHO says it’s not to that extent. While the virus can be transmitted person-to-person, it needs to be prolonged contact like roommates, partners and not by simply being in their presence. WHO hasn’t sounded the alarms yet, but they advise that those in contact should take precaution.
People took to social media joking about “preparing for another lockdown.” Students were worried about being the next set of graduates to have an online ceremony. No need to panic just yet, WHO is fighting to keep this all under control. We can only hope for the best.
This week has turned out to be full of ups and downs. To the students graduating this Saturday, you got to the very end of college, no hacker or virus should take that joy. Goodluck to everyone else, it looks like we all need it. Happy end of semester, to all students, faculty, staff and parents!