Password To Louvre Video Surveillance System Was 'louvre',...

At least one of the thieves remains at large, French prosecutors say.

At the time of the brazen heist of $102 million in jewels from the Louvre last month, the password to the world-famous museum's video surveillance system was simply "Louvre," according to a museum employee with knowledge of the system.

The revelation comes as the museum's security measures have come under scrutiny in the wake of the high-profile theft.

During testimony before a French Senate committee last month, Laurence des Cars, the president and director of the Louvre, said the only camera installed outside the Apollo Gallery was facing west and did not cover the window where the thieves used power tools to break in and exit.

In addition, Des Cars said all of the museum's alarms worked, as did its video cameras, but noted a "weakness" in the museum's perimeter security "due to underinvestment."

French investigators said the entire robbery from start to getaway took seven minutes and that the thieves used a truck-mounted mechanical cherry picker to exit the targeted Apollo Gallery.

The Louvre director told French lawmakers, "The security system, as installed in the Apollo Gallery, worked perfectly. The question that arises is how to adapt this system to a new type of attack and modus operandi that we could not have foreseen."

Despite touting the security system within the Louvre as working properly, des Cars added, "Today we are witnessing a terrible failure at the Louvre. The security of the Louvre is one of my top priorities during my term of office, and I repeat that I was appalled by the museum's security situation when I arrived in 2021."

As the investigation into the October heist continues, authorities have still not recovered the missing jewels from the museum, even though four suspects have been charged in connection with the robbery.

In a Franceinfo radio interview Sunday, Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that authorities are still searching for the missing jewels.

Source: HackerNews