A spectacular heist at the Louvre Museum has exposed shocking cybersecurity failures that range from embarrassing to downright dangerous. The October robbery, which saw thieves steal crown jewels worth $88 million in just seven minutes, revealed that the password for the museum's video surveillance system was simply "LOUVRE" for years. This breach has cast a spotlight on security lapses that demonstrate a troubling pattern of human negligence across institutions worldwide.
The October 19, 2025 break-in saw four thieves wearing high-visibility vests and masks infiltrate the Gallery of Apollo at the Louvre. They managed to steal crown jewels valued at $88 million in just seven minutes, exposing security vulnerabilities that extend far beyond the spectacular theft itself. According to confidential documents reviewed by French newspaper Libération, the password for the server managing the world-famous museum's video surveillance system had been simply "LOUVRE" for years.
Making matters worse, the password for the cybersecurity software provided by defense contractor Thales was simply the company's name. This revelation has made the Louvre a laughingstock in the cybersecurity world. "If you ever have imposter syndrome, just remember that the Louvre's security password was 'Louvre,'" mocked one security expert on social media. However absurd this negligence may seem, it is far from an isolated case.
Perhaps the most terrifying password catastrophe involves the most powerful digits in the world: the codes for launching American nuclear missiles. According to Bruce Blair, a former Air Force officer and nuclear expert, the unlock code for Minuteman missiles between 1962 and the mid-1970s consisted simply of eight zeros: 00000000. Blair explained that while the two-man rule required two qualified crew members to be present at the launch site as the primary human security measure, this safeguard wasn't always reliable.
According to Blair's accounts, the two shift members often organized alternating sleep schedules, meaning effectively only one person sat at the launch button with the absurdly simple password. The Strategic Air Command eventually changed the system and introduced a unique unlock code transmitted from a higher authority to the launch crew. However, this change came only years after officials realized that simply typing eight zeros might be somewhat negligent when it comes to initiating nuclear war.
In another case, a 158-year-old company was brought down by hackers who gained access by guessing an employee's password. KNP, a transport company in Northamptonshire, England, was targeted by hackers in June 2023. Once inside the system, the hackers encrypted KNP's data, locking out all internal systems before demanding a ransom worth millions. Unable to pay, the company lost its data and went bankrupt, resulting in hundreds of job losses.
KNP Director Paul Abbott admitted he never told the employee with the weak password that their information had been compromised and led to the company's downfall. "Would you want to know if it were you?" Abbott asked the BBC. This incident demonstrates how weak passwords can have devastating consequences beyond just data breaches.
The phone hacking scandal in the UK revealed another dimension of password negligence. Hugh Grant, Prince Harry, and Sienna Miller were among the celebrities who fell victim to phone hacking by British tabloid newspapers. Formal investigations began after complaints that personal information shared only in private settings routinely appeared on national newspaper front pages. The investigations revealed that voicemails of public figures were hacked by journalists and hired private investigators who correctly assumed that few people change their default voicemail access codes.
Simple combinations like 1111, 4444, and 1234 were used to access celebrities' voicemail inboxes. The UK phone hacking scandal led to the closure of the News of the World newspaper in 2011, followed by an investigation into British press practices and ethics. This case highlighted how default passwords and simple combinations remain widespread vulnerabilities.
From August 2021 to 2022, cyber attackers gained access to computers containing British voter registers – lists with names and addresses of millions of voters across the United Kingdom, as discovered by the UK's data protection authority. An investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found that hackers accessed the system by impersonating a legitimate user account. The ICO determined this was possible because adequate security measures were consistently neglected.
Software updates released to fix security vulnerabilities were not installed, and the company failed to enforce policies ensuring employees used secure passwords. During investigations, the ICO found 178 active accounts using passwords identical or similar to those set by the organization's IT desk when the accounts were activated years earlier. The Electoral Commission was formally reprimanded for its negligence, affecting 40 million British voters.
Returning to the Louvre, the ridiculous password represents only the tip of the iceberg. Additional documents show that in 2025, the Louvre was still using security software purchased in 2003 that is no longer supported by the developer – running on hardware still using Windows Server 2003. Culture Minister Rachida Dati had immediately emphasized after the spectacular October 19 break-in that "the museum's security devices were not faulty." Ten days later, her tone had changed.
On October 28, she admitted to the Senate that security gaps had indeed existed and announced plans to "shed full light on the oversights, deficiencies, and responsibilities." A report by the French Court of Auditors, prepared before the theft, concluded that recommended upgrades from a security audit conducted a decade earlier would likely not be completed until 2032. This represents a processing time of more than 15 years for addressing known, glaring security vulnerabilities.
The Court of Auditors' report emphasized the need for the Louvre to strengthen its internal control function, which "remains underdeveloped for an institution of the Louvre's size." There's a certain irony that the museum has spent millions on artworks in recent years – €5 million in 2021 for two works by French Rococo painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard, and another €2.2 million in April 2025 for an exceptional Fabergé triptych – while simultaneously neglecting basic IT security measures.
The lesson from all these cases is clear: perhaps it's time to view demands for passwords consisting of multi-digit combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols less as madness and more as necessity. Learning from the mistakes of weak password creators who came before us could prevent future catastrophes that range from embarrassing breaches to threats to national security and priceless cultural heritage.
