Part of the Pitti Palace closed, the most precious jewels of the Grand Dukes' Treasury transferred to the Bank of Italy's vault, and emergency doors and exits bricked up. These are the countermeasures adopted by the Uffizi Galleries following a hacker attack that, according to Corriere della Sera, between late January and early February affected the administrative services of the famous Florence museum visited by millions of tourists each year.
"No damage was done or theft was committed," the Uffizi management itself claims in a statement. " The cameras had been in the process of being replaced for a year. The situation was not at all like at the Louvre. No passwords were stolen . None at all, because the security systems are closed-circuit internally and not open to the outside. The cameras are visible to anyone walking around the premises, and this is true in all museums and public places around the world."
And again: "There is no evidence whatsoever that hackers possessed security maps . As for the Medici treasury, however, it is closed because the entire museum's renovation project was awarded, following a tender launched in September; therefore, the areas had to be cleared in advance of the start of work. As for the bricked-up doors, these are partly required by the fire prevention plan, the Scia for which was, not coincidentally, filed with the fire department the day before yesterday. Finally, the photo server was not stolen . The backup was complete, and the employees' phones were not hacked. The days of paralysis are related to the time it took to restore the backup, which was completed. No information was lost ."
According to reports, the Florence prosecutor's office had already opened a case in early February for attempted extortion and unauthorized access to computer systems. The investigation has been launched against unknown persons. The investigation is being conducted by the Postal Police in conjunction with the Cybersecurity Agency.
(Unioneonline/ns)
