Louvre's surveillance system password was 'Louvre'

A new detail has emerged about the possible circumstances surrounding the US$102 million (S$133 million) Louvre heist.

It turns out, the password to the esteemed, world-famous Paris museum's video surveillance system was simply "Louvre".

Password: Louvre

According to The Daily Mail, the flawed password was first revealed by French newspaper Libération during a review of confidential documents about the museum's security systems.

Citing the French paper, Washington Times reported that the museum requested an audit in 2014 from the French National Agency for the Security of Information Systems to test its security network.

Experts easily gained access to the museum's video surveillance server by entering "Louvre" as the password.

They also gained access to a software programme by using the password "Thales".

The programme was developed by defence company, Thales.

The revelation about the museum's poor cybersecurity practices that guard some of the world's most-prized works of art has invited ridicule.

Audits warned of flaws since 2014

The National Cybersecurity Agency of France also discovered that the museum's office network was running on obsolete systems, like Windows 2000, which no longer provided antivirus updates, Cybernews reported.

In 2017, an audit report warned about the threat of an attack with potentially dramatic consequences.

Gaps in its video surveillance system were previously blamed by the museum's chief for enabling the heist, although it is not clear if the weak password was a contributing factor.

It is also unclear if the other cybersecurity concerns raised during past audits were addressed by the time of the heist.

Libération reached out to the Louvre to ask if recommendations by cybersecurity experts were implemented, but did not receive a response, Washington Times reported.

So far, four suspects have been arrested in relation to the heist.

One of the suspects was identified after his DNA was found on display cases and on items left behind at the scene.

Top image via Unsplash, Canva