The event also limits digital access for both employees of the institutions and the general public.
The Rubin Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas in the United States confirmed that the Gallery Systems software, used by many cultural institutions in the country, suffered a cyberattack that compromised the files and limits digital access for both employees of the institutions and the general public.
In a statement addressed to its clients – which was accessed by The New York Times – the company that created Gallery Systems admitted to its clients that it had registered security problems on December 28, when several of the computers running its software were encrypted. and they stopped working.
In that message they also reported that they took technical and legal measures to protect the databases. “We immediately took steps to isolate those systems and implemented measures to prevent other systems from being affected, including taking systems offline as a precaution,” the company said in the statement. “We also launched an investigation and third-party cybersecurity experts were brought in to assist. Additionally, we notified law enforcement authorities.”
Some museums that depend on the provider, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, issued statements saying they were not affected because they maintain their own databases.
On the other hand, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston was affected and stated that although its digital collections page was down on the website, its internal data was not compromised.
Cyberattacks against cultural institutions appear to be increasingly common. In November, databases containing personal information were stolen from the British Library by a ransomware group, which published images of internal human resources files.
The Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra also faced similar attacks and were hampered in their ability to sell tickets online. In the case of the attack on the Gallery Systems software, the motives and scope of the action are still unclear.
Source: Ambito
