Mumbai, November 5: It sounds like it came straight out of a heist movie, but it’s not fiction. The Louvre Museum in France, home to the world-famous Mona Lisa, reportedly used “Louvre” as the password for its video surveillance system. The shocking fact came to the fore amid the probe into the theft of jewels worth 88 million euros in what’s being called the “heist of the century.”

While initial suspicions pointed to an inside job, investigations have instead exposed astonishing lapses in the museum’s cybersecurity. According to a report by Liberation, confidential audits by France’s National Agency for Information Systems Security (Anssi) uncovered “trivial” passwords, outdated software, and decade-old vulnerabilities in the Louvre’s IT network. Louvre Museum Jewel Heist in Paris: French Police Arrest 2 Suspects in Connection With Theft of Precious Jewels Worth INR 88 Million Euros.

Password ‘Louvre’ in Focus After ‘Heist of the Century’

Incredibly, the auditors were able to access systems simply by typing “Louvre,” revealing how easy it would have been for hackers to manipulate security cameras or alter access credentials. Some terminals were still running on Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003, systems long abandoned by Microsoft.

Louvre Museum Jewel Heist

The daring theft occurred on the morning of October 19 at 9:30 am. In a minutes-long strike, thieves rode a basket lift the Louvre’s facade, forced a window, smashed display cases, and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officials said. The daylight heist about 30 minutes after opening, with visitors already inside, was among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory and comes as staff complained that crowding and thin staffing are straining security. Louvre Museum in Paris Closed After Robbery, Police Investigation Underway (Watch Video).

The theft unfolded just 250 meters from the Mona Lisa, in what Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as a professional “four-minute operation.” One object, the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum, French authorities said. It was reportedly recovered broken.

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TruLY Score 3 – Believable; Needs Further Research | On a Trust Scale of 0-5 this article has scored 3 on LatestLY, this article appears believable but may need additional verification. It is based on reporting from news websites or verified journalists (Liberation), but lacks supporting official confirmation. Readers are advised to treat the information as credible but continue to follow up for updates or confirmations

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 05, 2025 03:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).