No Louvre lost: Lax security, antiquated hardware results in audacious theft, experts say

PARIS — How were a brazen group of thieves able to pull off a daylight heist of several pieces of the French Crown Jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris? It may have been complacency by the museum and insider knowledge by the thieves, say security experts. 

“It was well planned, and they seemed to know the operations of the Museum from an insider,” said Marcus Skeen, president and CEO of WGS Group, which provides guards, executive protection and other security services. “They acted pointedly and meticulously.” 

Almost a month later, four suspects have been charged with robbery and remain in custody, with one suspect still at large. Despite early suspicions that the perpetrators belonged to organized crime, French investigators quickly dismissed the notion, informing news publications that it was the work of petty criminals. 

Even more so then, why hadn’t the museum’s security technology prevented the theft? 

Articles have suggested the Louvre had been spending too much money on art and not enough money on upgrading its security to modern standards. Iveda CEO David Ly suggested that artificial intelligence (AI) could solve this problem.  

“Had AI been integrated at the Louvre, the thieves would have been detected before or during entry, their actions recognized in real time, and their escape path tracked, transforming a 10-minute unsolved heist into a two-minute containment,” he said. 

“Traditional security reacts; AI anticipates,” Ly added. 

According to reports, the Louvre faced significant security challenges, including an understaffed security team and limited camera surveillance. More concerning, however, were serious lapses in operational security. Official museum documents revealed that its video surveillance systems were protected by weak passwords such as “LOUVRE” and “THALES” – the latter being the name of the security software itself. 

“All buildings should constantly update and change their security procedures and systems,” said Skeen. “Prior planning and knowledge of the operations can easily result in weak points in the security plan. It’s imperative to have updated routes and monitoring and constant training in-venue that hold high risk goods.”