Louvre Museum

A series of security audits spanning from 2014 to recent years exposed severe cybersecurity vulnerabilities at the **Louvre Museum**, France’s iconic cultural institution. Investigative reports by *CheckNews* (Libération) revealed egregious failures, including the use of trivial passwords like **"LOUVRE"** for video surveillance servers and **"THALES"** for a critical software platform provided by Thales. Penetration testers easily exploited these weak credentials to infiltrate systems, gaining unauthorized access to **badge access controls**—enabling them to modify employee permissions remotely. Audits also uncovered **obsolete, unsupported systems** (e.g., Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003) still operational on the network, leaving them exposed to unpatched exploits. While the recent **physical jewel heist** (unrelated to cyberattacks) dominated headlines, the audits confirmed that a cyber intruder could have **compromised surveillance feeds, access systems, or internal data** with minimal effort. Museum management refused to comment on remediation efforts, raising concerns that these critical flaws may persist, endangering both **physical security and digital assets** tied to France’s cultural heritage.

Source: https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/09/infosec_news_in_brief/

Musée du Louvre (Louvre Museum) cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/etablissement-public-du-musee-du-louvre

"id": "eta5132551111025",
"linkid": "etablissement-public-du-musee-du-louvre",
"type": "Vulnerability",
"date": "6/2000",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "3",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with internal employee data leaks"

{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'Arts & Entertainment',
                        'location': 'Paris, France',
                        'name': 'Louvre Museum',
                        'size': 'Large (3,000+ employees, 10M+ annual '
                                'visitors)',
                        'type': 'Cultural Institution'}],
 'attack_vector': ['Weak/Default Credentials',
                   'Outdated Software Exploitation',
                   'Lack of Network Segmentation'],
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2023-10-13',
 'description': 'A series of security audits conducted between 2014 and 2023 '
                'revealed severe cybersecurity vulnerabilities at the Louvre '
                "Museum, including weak passwords (e.g., 'LOUVRE' for video "
                "surveillance, 'THALES' for Thales software), outdated systems "
                '(Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003), and unpatched flaws allowing '
                'external attackers to compromise access badge systems and '
                'other critical infrastructure. Penetration testers '
                'demonstrated ease of exploitation, but the Louvre declined to '
                'comment on remediation efforts. The audits were marked '
                'confidential, and it remains unclear whether corrective '
                'actions were taken.',
 'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Moderate (negative media coverage '
                                       'highlighting negligence)',
            'operational_impact': 'High (potential for unauthorized physical '
                                  'access, surveillance compromise, and '
                                  'lateral movement across networks)',
            'systems_affected': ['Video surveillance server',
                                 'Thales software platform',
                                 'Access badge control system',
                                 'Legacy Windows systems (2000, XP, Server '
                                 '2003)']},
 'investigation_status': 'Unclear (Louvre declined to comment; audits marked '
                         'confidential)',
 'lessons_learned': 'Critical infrastructure like cultural institutions must '
                    'prioritize cybersecurity hygiene, including: (1) '
                    'Enforcing strong password policies and MFA, (2) Phasing '
                    'out unsupported legacy systems, (3) Regular penetration '
                    'testing and audit transparency, (4) Segmenting networks '
                    'to limit lateral movement.',
 'post_incident_analysis': {'root_causes': ['Chronic underinvestment in '
                                            'cybersecurity',
                                            'Lack of accountability for audit '
                                            'findings',
                                            'Overreliance on legacy systems',
                                            'Absence of basic security '
                                            'controls (e.g., password '
                                            'complexity)']},
 'recommendations': ['Immediate patching/upgrade of outdated systems (Windows '
                     '2000/XP/Server 2003).',
                     'Implementation of network segmentation and zero-trust '
                     'principles.',
                     'Mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all '
                     'critical systems.',
                     'Third-party red team exercises to validate defenses.',
                     'Public disclosure of remediation progress to rebuild '
                     'trust.'],
 'references': [{'date_accessed': '2023-10-13',
                 'source': 'Libération (CheckNews)'}],
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'No public comment; audits marked '
                                        'confidential'},
 'title': "Louvre Museum's Decade-Long Cybersecurity Failures Exposed in "
          'Security Audits',
 'type': ['Security Audit Findings',
          'Unauthorized Access Risk',
          'Outdated Systems',
          'Weak Authentication'],
 'vulnerability_exploited': ["Weak passwords (e.g., 'LOUVRE', 'THALES')",
                             'Unsupported OS (Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003)',
                             'Unpatched systems in video surveillance and '
                             'access control']}