Uffizi Galleries hit by cyber attack, valuables taken to bank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFlorence’s Uffizi galleries suffered a serious cyberattack earlier this year, forcing emergency measures, including transferring the priceless gems to the Bank of Italy, Corriere Della Sera reported on Friday. <\/p>\n
The Uffizi Museum, with its Botticelli paintings Birth of Venus and Primavera and the Michelangelo artwork Doni Tondo, is the second most popular museum in Italy, generating annual revenues of 60 million euros, or $69 million. <\/p>\n
The report said hackers penetrated the Uffizi network between late January and early February, resulting in a breach of systems at both Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens. <\/p>\n
The attackers illegally obtained security systems and access codes and passwords and internal maps, which they used to erase server data before sending a ransom request to Uffizi director Simone Verde via his personal phone.<\/p>\n
The central bank received some of the most valuable items from the Grand Duke’s treasury, which the Medici family kept in the Palazzo Pitti for safekeeping. The organization sealed specific doors and emergency exits.<\/p>\n
The cyberattack reportedly involved the theft of the museum’s entire digital photographic collection, which included decades of images and documents. The Uffizi website states that the Treasure of the Grand Dukes in Palazzo Pitti will remain closed until further notice for maintenance, which began on February 3.<\/p>\n
The incident occurs at a time when several famous art thefts are occurring in European cities. Thieves stole $102 million worth of jewels from Paris’ Louvre museum last year, while in March they took paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul C\u00e9zanne and Henri Matisse from a northern Italian museum.<\/p>\n
The Uffizi and Italy’s Ministry of Culture and Police Press Office have not issued any official statements about the cyberattack.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n