Subj : British Museum forced to partly close following cyberattack by ex
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Mon Jan 27 2025 11:00:07

British Museum forced to partly close following cyberattack by ex-worker

Date:
Mon, 27 Jan 2025 10:45:19 +0000

Description:
A cyberattack caused by a former IT contractor forced the Biritsh Museum to 
close some exhibitions over the weekend.

FULL STORY
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mous British Museum suffers days-long cyberattack The attack was caused by a 
former IT contractor Exhibitions were closed over the weekend, but have since 
reopened 

A former employee of the British Museum has been arrested on suspicion of 
burglary and criminal damage after allegedly performing an on-site 
cyberattack which shut down exhibits for several days. 

An IT contractor who was dismissed last week trespassed into the museum and 
shut down several of our systems. Police attended and he was arrested at the 
scene, a spokesperson for the British Museum said. 

The former contractors actions caused the ticketing system for the museum to 
cease functioning, leading to exhibits only being open to pre-booked bookings 
and members. Exhibitions closed 

The Metropolitan Police said that it had been called to the museum at 8.25pm 
last Thursday on reports that a man entered the British Museum and caused 
damage to the museums security and IT systems. Police attended the scene and 
arrested a man in his 50s, who has since been bailed. 

An email sent to members of the British Museum this morning said that the 
museums three exhibitions were now open. The closures over the past days will 
have been disappointing and frustrating, and we are very sorry if your 
planned visit was impacted." 

"We will be working to add additional opportunities to see the exhibitions 
out of hours in the coming weeks. Thank you for your patience and 
understanding as colleagues worked to resolve the issues, the email said. 

The museum also offered refunds to ticket holders. 

The attack highlights the need for organizations to implement strict identity 
management policies to ensure that credentials and privileges are rescinded 
when an employees contract ends, preventing them from accessing IT or network 
infrastructure. 

Museums, charities, and other cultural institutions are increasingly becoming 
the targets of ransomware and cyber attacks due to the customer data they 
handle. Organizations such as these often fail to recognize themselves as 
potential targets of cyberattacks, and as a result place less priority on 
investing in cybersecurity systems. 

Via The Guardian You might also like Here is our guide to the best ransomware 
protection Take a look at our roundup of the best antivirus software Hackers 
use GenAI to attack more frequently and effectively



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/british-museum-forced-to-partly-close-f
ollowing-cyberattack-by-ex-worker


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