This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
Security Magazine logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Security Magazine logo
  • Home
  • News
    • Security Newswire
    • Technologies
    • Security Blog
    • Newsletter
    • Web Exclusives
  • Columns
    • Career Intelligence
    • Security Talk
    • The Corner Office
    • Leadership & Management
    • Cyber Tactics
    • Overseas and Secure
    • The Risk Matrix
  • Management
    • Leadership Management
    • Enterprise Services
    • Security Education & Training
    • More
  • Physical
    • Access Management
    • Video Surveillance
    • Identity Management
    • More
  • Cyber
  • Sectors
    • Education: University
    • Hospitals & Medical Centers
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • More
  • Exclusives
    • Security 500 Report
    • Most Influential People in Security
    • Top Guard and Security Officer Companies
    • The Security Leadership Issue
    • Annual Innovations, Technology, & Services Report
  • Events
    • Industry Events
    • Webinars
    • Solutions by Sector
    • Security 500 Conference
    • Security 500 West
  • Resources
    • The Magazine
      • This Month's Issue
      • Digital Edition
      • Archives
      • Professional Security Canada
    • Videos
      • ISC West 2019
    • Photo Galleries
    • Polls
    • Classifieds & Job Listings
    • White Papers
    • Mobile App
    • Store
    • Sponsor Insights
    • Continuing Education
  • InfoCenters
    • Building AppSec in Enterprises
  • Contact
    • Editorial Guidelines
  • Advertise
Home » Serious Security Flaws Blamed for Picasso Heist
Security Newswire

Serious Security Flaws Blamed for Picasso Heist

New Newswire Feature Image 3/8/2012
April 24, 2012
KEYWORDS budget cuts / international security / security breakdown / theft prevention
Reprints
No Comments

Untrained guards, faulty equipment and disastrous communications all contributed to the vulnerability of Athens’ National Gallery last January, according to a report from the Greek government.

The document details the ridiculous trail of system breakdowns in a seven-minute heist that brought about the loss of paintings and sketches by Picasso, Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian and Moncalvo (16th Century Italian artist Guglielmo Caccia), according to a report by the AFP Wire Service.

The museum “did not fulfill the security conditions needed to protect the institution,” the public service inspector general’s office said in the report.

The National Gallery was an ideal target, the report stated, because its security systems had not been updated since 2000.

Several areas in the museum were out of range of security cameras. Even if the cameras had caught the whole burglary, it might not have been recorded because their tapes had not been changed — there was no money for new ones.

The National Gallery’s alarm system was also faulty and prone to ringing gratuitously, the report said, blaming dead or absent batteries. The night of the heist, January 9, the burglar or burglars repeatedly set off an alarm by manipulating an unlocked door to divert security while sneaking into the building.

The guards had to use their cell phones to communicate with one another because they had no radios. And they had never received any job-specific training, the report states.

The Gallery was also on reduced security staffing at the time due to a three-day strike.

Citizen’s Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis called the security arrangements “non-existent.”

The sole guard told police that a burglar alarm was set off shortly before 5:00 a.m., and he saw the silhouette of a person leaving the building. He said he ran after the thief, who dropped another Mondrian oil painting.

Paintings stolen include a 1905 oil painting by Mondrian, a 16th Century pen-and-ink sketch from Moncalvo and the 1939 oil-on-canvas painting “Woman’s Head” by Picasso. Picasso had given the painting to the Greek state in 1949 as a tribute to the country’s resistance of Nazi Germany. On the back of the cubist portrait, Picasso wrote in French: “For the Greek people, a tribute by Picasso.”

Skai television said that the stolen works were work about 5.5 million Euros, or $7.3 million.

The report said security had been improved since the heist, AFP says.

Subscribe to Security Magazine

Related Articles

Serious Security Flaws Found at California Nuclear Plant

Cartel Hit Men Blamed For Latest Juarez Slayings; One Security Professional's Response

Related Products

Photonic Sensing: Principles and Applications for Safety and Security Monitoring

Physical Security and Safety: A Field Guide for the Practitioner

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Subscribe For Free!
  • Print & Digital Edition Subscriptions
  • Security eNewsletter & Other eNews Alerts
  • Online Registration
  • Mobile App
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Popular Stories

cybersecurity breach

The Top 12 Data Breaches of 2019

ransomware-enews

British American Tobacco Suffers Data Breach and Ransomware Attack

Dispelling the Dangerous Myth of Data Breach Fatigue; cyber security news

Major Retailer Macy's Is Hacked

Mark Hargraves

Security Industry Mourns Passing of Mark Hargraves

SEC1219-Cover-Feat-slide1_900px

Contracted vs. In-House Guarding: No Universal Right Answer

SEC2019_Everbridge_1119_360x184customcontent

Events

December 17, 2019

Conducting a Workplace Violence Threat Analysis and Developing a Response Plan

There are few situations a security professional will face that is more serious than a potential workplace violence threat. Every security professional knows and understands that all employers have a legal, ethical and moral duty to take reasonable steps to prevent and respond to threats of violence in their workplace.
January 23, 2020

The Value of a Unified Approach to Critical Event Management

From extreme weather to cyberattacks to workplace violence, every organization will experience at least one, if not multiple, critical events per year. And in today’s interconnected digital and physical world, the cascading safety, brand, and revenue impacts of critical events are more severe. Organizations need to be prepared through a unified and rapid response to these events.
View All Submit An Event

Poll

Emergency Communications

What does your enterprise use to communicate emergencies to company employees?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

Effective Security Management, 6th Edition

Effective Security Management, 6th Edition

 Effective Security Management, 5e, teaches practicing security professionals how to build their careers by mastering the fundamentals of good management. Charles Sennewald brings a time-tested blend of common sense, wisdom, and humor to this bestselling introduction to workplace dynamics. 

See More Products
SEC500_250x180 clear

Security Magazine

SEC-December-2019-Cover_144px

2019 December

This month, Security magazine brings you the 2019 Guarding Report, featuring David Komendat, Boeing CSO, and many other public safety leaders to discuss threats and solutions for 2020 and security officer training. Also, we highlight Hector Rodriguez, Director of Public Safety and Security at Marymount California University, CCPA regulations, NIST standards, VMS and much more.

View More Create Account
  • More
    • Market Research
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • Security Group
    • Editorial Guidelines
    • Privacy Policy
    • Survey And Sample
  • Want More
    • Subscribe
    • Connect
    • Partners

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing