Vengeful former employee sabotages British Museum’s systems

The British Museum is mostly free, but you still need a ticket. Unfortunately, the famous institution was forced to partially close last week after a former employee attacked its IT infrastructure, including the ticketing platform.

The museum told The Guardian that the recently fired contractor managed to get into the building and shut down several systems.

That meant that while the museum remained open to visitors, only a few ticket holders were able to access its paid exhibitions, such as the Silk Roads show. The IT system that manages bookings didn’t work.

“An IT contractor who was dismissed last week trespassed into the museum and shut down several of our systems. Police attended and he was arrested at the scene,” said the British Museum spokesperson.

“We are working hard to get the museum back to being fully operational but with regret our temporary exhibitions have been closed today and will remain so over the weekend – ticket holders have been alerted and refunds offered.”

Police later said an individual in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of burglary and criminal damage. It seems the man didn’t steal any museum items.

The IT outage is only the latest cyber issue to affect a cultural institution in the United Kingdom. In 2023, the British Library was hit by a large cyberattack which led to users’ personal data appearing for sale on the dark web.

The attack was claimed by the Rhysida cyber gang, a newcomer to the ransomware scene, operating as a ransomware-as-a-service group and selling their tools to other criminals for a cut of the profits.

That same year, Britain’s Parliamentary committee warned that large swathes of critical national infrastructure in the UK are vulnerable to ransomware, and a coordinated attack has the potential to bring the country to its knees.