Pakistan, May 9 -- A major cyber security breach involving the educational platform Canvas has disrupted schools and universities across the United States, with reports suggesting some institutions have directly contacted hackers in an effort to prevent stolen data from being leaked.

Read More: Canvas warns schools after major student data breach

According to Reuters, the hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the attack and alleged it had stolen approximately 6.65 terabytes of data linked to nearly 9,000 schools worldwide.

The group said the compromised information included student names, email addresses, ID numbers, and private messages exchanged between students, teachers, and staff.

Canvas, owned by Instructure, is ...