“Louvre” Was the Password? Lessons from a $102M Wake-Up Call
By Regine Bonneau, “The Cyber Queen,” CEO of RB Advisory and Christa Santos
News reports indicate that one of the world’s most visited museums allegedly guarded a core surveillance system with a password so weak it matched the institution’s own name – “Louvre.” The disclosure surfaced in the aftermath of an estimated $102 million jewel heist and follows official scrutiny of outdated security controls and slow remediation cycles.
If that makes you wince, good. It should. Because behind every headline-grabbing breach is a pattern we see every week across industries: basic cyber hygiene was deferred, risk decisions were undocumented, and governance assumed “museum-grade” or “enterprise-grade” somehow equals “secure.” It doesn’t.
As leaders, we don’t control whether criminals try to compromise us, we control how hard we make it to succeed. Here are the practical, board-level takeaways your organization can implement today.
Passwords are policies, not preferences
Credential policy is an organizational control, not an individual choice. If a system can accept “CompanyName” (or any dictionary word) as a high-privilege password, your policy and your technology enforcement have both failed.
What to do now
- Enforce passphrases (≥16 characters), screen against breached and common passwords (use NIST SP 800-63B guidance), and mandate MFA for all administrative and remote access.
- Disable default accounts, rotate service account secrets, and implement just-in-time (JIT) privileged access with automatic expiry.
Executive checkpoint: Ask your CISO: “Show me the control that prevents any admin password from being a dictionary word or our brand name.” If they can’t demonstrate it, you don’t have it.
Governance must cover “crown jewels” and the keys to the cameras
Reports focus on jewels stolen, but the real crown jewels in any enterprise are your core systems: identity, logging, video/sensors, backups, and OT/IoT controllers. Too often, physical security tech (VMS/NVRs, access control, sensors) sits outside the CISO’s governance, procured by facilities, operated by vendors, and patched “when convenient.”
What to do now
- Put physical security systems under cyber governance: asset inventory, patch SLAs, credential policy, network segmentation, and continuous monitoring.
- Treat video and access control servers like domain controllers: restricted network segments, MFA to admin, immutable logs, and alerting on configuration change.
Executive checkpoint: “Is our physical security stack in the cyber asset inventory, scanned by vulnerability tools, and covered by change management?”
“Aging systems” is a known risk – document it, fund it, fix it
Authorities cited outdated systems and slow-moving fixes. That’s not a surprise; it’s a symptom of deferred lifecycle management.
What to do now
- Establish technology lifecycle governance: every system has an owner, EOL date, and funded refresh path.
- Tie refresh to risk reduction, not aesthetics, if a platform can’t enforce modern authentication or vendor patches are end-of-life, it’s a risk on the register with a target remediation date.
Executive checkpoint: “Show me the EOL/EOS calendar for our security platforms and the budgeted refresh plan.”
Assume compromise; make detection your superpower
Even perfect passwords fail when threat actors phish a user, exploit an appliance, or walk in with stolen badges. Resilience requires deterrence, detection, response, and recovery.
What to do now
- Centralize logs (SIEM/UEBA), monitor privileged actions, and set high-fidelity alerts for admin account creation, policy changes, and camera/NVR tampering.
- Run purple-team exercises that include physical–cyber kill chains (e.g., disabling cameras and exfiltrating data).
- Validate backups and incident runbooks that include physical security system rebuilds.
Executive checkpoint: “When was the last time we simulated an attack that disabled or altered our surveillance system?”
Vendor and integrator risk is your risk
From camera firmware to door controllers to cloud VMS, third-party posture becomes your exposure.
What to do now
- Require SBOMs, vulnerability disclosure policies, and MFA/SAML for integrator remote access.
- Include right-to-audit and remediation SLAs in contracts.
- Onboard vendors into your identity provider; eliminate shared integrator accounts.
Executive checkpoint: “Can any external vendor access our security platforms without MFA and named accounts?”
Culture beats configuration
Organizations often know a control is weak but rationalize the risk: “We’re inside a secure building,” “It’s temporary,” or “We’ll change it after the event.” Culture is what lets a weak password survive change windows.
What to do now
- Measure and reward policy adherence.
- Treat exceptions as time-boxed, logged, and approved by risk owners, not hallway decisions.
- Communicate why controls matter with real stories, not just checklists.
Quick-hit checklist (use in your next staff or board review)
- Password screening against breached/common lists and brand terms is enforced.
- MFA on all admin and remote paths, including physical security platforms.
- Crown-jewel map identifies identity, video/access, backup, OT networks, and who owns them.
- Lifecycle plan for all security systems with funded EOL refresh.
- Segmentation keeps cameras/NVRs and access control isolated with least privilege.
- Continuous monitoring with alerts for privileged changes and sensor tampering.
- Vendor controls: named accounts, MFA, SBOMs, vulnerability SLAs.
- Exercises test disable-the-cameras scenarios alongside data exfiltration.
- Exception management is documented, approved, and time bound.
- Executive reporting ties controls to measurable risk reduction (not vanity metrics).
A word from “The Cyber Queen”
“High-profile breaches aren’t just about sophisticated attackers, they’re about simple decisions made every day. A single weak credential can neutralize millions in cameras, sensors, and guards. Leaders must turn cyber hygiene into organizational reflexes: enforce strong authentication, govern every critical system, and rehearse failure so you can recover fast,” says Regine Bonneau, The Cyber Queen™, CEO & Founder, RB Advisory.
Why this matters now
The Louvre incident is a global reminder that brand, scale, or mission does not equal security. Whether you’re safeguarding priceless art, patient records, or operational data, your adversaries exploit the same gaps: weak authentication, outdated platforms, flat networks, and untested response. Addressing those gaps is not a costly moonshot, it’s disciplined execution of fundamentals.
At RB Advisory, we help organizations operationalize those fundamentals: from CMMC and regulatory readiness to cyber program buildouts that align identity, data, and resilience. If you’re unsure whether your “cameras” (literal or metaphorical) are governed like the crown jewels, it’s time for an objective assessment.
Next steps
- Schedule a controls and culture review focused on passwords/MFA, crown-jewel mapping, and lifecycle governance.
- Run a joint physical–cyber tabletop that includes disabling surveillance and bypassing access control.
- Prioritize technology refresh for any platform that cannot enforce modern auth or receives no current security patches.
Strong security is rarely flashy. It’s the quiet, consistent enforcement of policies that make the next would-be headline…boring.
Regine Bonneau is the CEO of RB Advisory and is widely recognized as “The Cyber Queen,” advising boards and executives on cyber risk, regulatory readiness, and resilience.
“The cyber challenges of 2025 confirmed one truth: risk is no longer an IT issue; it’s an organizational imperative. The organizations who sailed through didn’t get lucky; they engineered resilience,” says Regine Bonneau, The Cyber Queen™, CEO & Founder, RB Advisory.
Executive 30-Day Checklist:
- Identity first: Roll out phishing-resistant MFA to admins & finance.
- Tabletop: Run one ransomware + supplier outage exercise; capture gaps.
- Evidence: Stand up a controls-to-evidence map for top frameworks.
- Vendors: Tier critical suppliers; request IR/DR attestations.
- People: Launch a deepfake-aware training micro-module.
Fortify Your Future with RB Advisory
The threat landscape isn’t slowing down, and neither should your resilience. RB Advisory helps boards and CISOs turn compliance into competitive strength. Book a 45-minute 2026 Risk & Resilience Review and leave with a tailored 10-control action plan and a prioritized roadmap aligned to your regulators and contracts.
Don’t wait for the next major cyber incident to make the headlines. Take action now.
Connect with RB Advisory today and make an appointment to discuss your company’s needs.