Louvre Heist Exposes Years of Security Failure and Passwords a Child Could Guess

Louvre Heist Exposes Years of Security Failures, Including Passwords a Child Could Have Guessed

David Gilmour Nov 5th, 2025, 10:22 am

The brazen October heist at The Louvre may have looked like a shock from the outside, but French government files show the exact risk had been neglected when spelled out in audit after audit for years, flagging dangerously outdated systems and even a surveillance system password that was “LOUVRE.”

The museum is still reeling from the cost, both financial and reputational, of the astonishing daylight robbery that saw thieves escape with a haul of Napoleonic jewels in just seven minutes .

Armed with power tools and dressed in high-visibility jackets, the gang broke through a second-floor window of the country’s most famous museum, accessing the Apollo