PARIS, FRANCE - A $102 million jewel heist at Paris’s Louvre Museum has exposed alarming security lapses, including the discovery that the video surveillance password was simply "Louvre."
Security Failures Under Scrutiny
The easy-to-guess password came to light from a museum employee with knowledge of the system, intensifying scrutiny of the Louvre’s security protocols following the high-profile theft in October 2025. Further details reveal a history of neglect:
Laurence des Cars, the president and director of the Louvre, noted a "weakness" in the museum's perimeter security due to "underinvestment." Des Cars testified that the only camera installed outside the Apollo Gallery, where the theft occurred, was facing west and did not cover the window the thieves used for their break-in and exit.
Confidential documents show the museum was warned about serious security shortcomings as far back as 2014, including using obsolete systems like Windows 2000 on its office network and other systems secured by simple passwords such as "THALES."
Despite these failures, des Cars maintained that "the security system, as installed in the Apollo Gallery, worked perfectly" from a technical standpoint, but conceded, "Today we are witnessing a terrible failure at the Louvre."
The Seven-Minute Heist
French investigators determined the entire robbery, which involved the theft of eight pieces of the French Crown Jewels, took only seven minutes.
Thieves used power tools to enter through a window, then escaped using a truck-mounted mechanical cherry picker. The stolen jewels are valued at approximately $102 million.
Investigation Update and Suspects
Authorities have charged four suspects in connection with the robbery, though the missing jewels have not yet been recovered, and at least one person remains at large.
The Paris public prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, indicated the suspects do not appear to be linked to organized crime.
The first two arrested were a 39-year-old taxi driver and a 34-year-old delivery driver and garbage collector from the northern Parisian suburbs, whose DNA was found at the crime scene.
The other two charged are a 37-year-old man and his 38-year-old domestic partner, also from the Paris area.
The Apollo Gallery remains closed following the October heist, as investigations continue and international efforts intensify to recover the missing Crown Jewels.
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