The report on the security of the Louvre museum reveals serious shortcomings in cyber and operational systems, which appear to have contributed to the spectacular theft of October 19. Documents published by CheckNews show that the problems have existed for years, including weak passwords for key servers, such as “Louvre” for video surveillance or “Thales” for the Thalès company's software.
The 2017 report highlighted the use of old operating systems such as Windows 2000 and XP, while documents from 2025 show that the “Sathi” software, responsible for monitoring the cameras, ran on Windows Server 2003, which is no longer supported by Microsoft. Experts confirm that the museum’s security management, based on a complex network of systems, requires profound improvements.
France’s Culture Minister, Rachida Dati, admitted to the Senate that “there were indeed security gaps” and promised to shed “light on weaknesses, omissions and responsibilities.” Three days later, she announced urgent measures to control and cover up security gaps, after investigations revealed serious deficiencies in the museum’s digital systems.
Despite repeated reports and inspections, the museum has yet to take action to fully correct the weaknesses, while experts point to the lack of a comprehensive strategy for improving security.
