This makes a password like “1234” look genius.
An employee of the Louvre in Paris, France, has revealed the password of the museum’s surveillance system at the time of the jewelry heist last month, and it’s pretty bad.
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The password was “Louvre,” a staffer with knowledge of the system told ABC News Wednesday.
Yup, you read that right: “Louvre.”
The French outlet Libération first reported on the password, citing confidential documents. The outlet claims the password was initially unearthed by France’s National Cybersecurity Agency during an audit in 2014. And we suppose no one bothered to update it since then with something with more characters, numbers and symbols, like “v0ulez-v0u$ c0ucher @vec m0i.”
Police stand guard outside the Louvre museum on Oct. 19, after it was closed due to the robbery. Remon Haazen via Getty Images
It should be noted that it is unclear if the password ever came into play during last month’s heist — in which thieves stole $102 million in Napoleonic jewels in minutes and while tourists were inside by using a basket lift, forcing open a window and going hog wild in the museum’s Apollo Gallery.
French police officers stand next to a furniture elevator used by robbers to enter the Louvre Museum, on Quai Francois Mitterrand, in Paris on Oct. DIMITAR DILKOFF via Getty Images
But the fun tidbit of information comes amid concerns surrounding the famed institution’s security, with The Associated Press reporting at the time of the cartoonishly executed robbery that Louvre employees were complaining of worker and security understaffing. Paris police have even acknowledged that the security at the Louvre was pretty outdated.
Empress Eugénie’s tiara was stolen. Here it is exhibited at the Louvre Museum on April 27 in Paris, France. VCG via Getty Images
During testimony before a French Senate committee last month, Laurence des Cars, the president and director of the Louvre, said that the only camera installed outside the Apollo Gallery did not capture footage of the window where the thieves broke in and exited, per ABC News. Des Cars said the museum’s perimeter security was weak “due to underinvestment.”
He added that he was “appalled” by the museum’s security when he took the role in 2021, and that it has been one of his “top priorities.”
As the investigation into the theft churns on, authorities have yet to find the missing jewels, even though four suspects have been charged in connection with the robbery.
