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  • January 02, 2024 7:08 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from The Art Newspaper

    A hack that has limited the British Library’s access to its digital systems is the latest in a series of online raids on cultural institutions. A cyber-attack on the digital systems of the British Library in London continues to affect its website, online systems and some onsite services with limited access to some publications and manuscripts. The so-called ransomware attack, which was launched on 31 October, is part of a recent pattern marking an increase in the severity of cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure. The online attacks have affected cultural institutions such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Natural History Museum in Berlin, and the data they hold, and has left others considering how best to defend themselves against future attacks.

    The British Library attack was carried out by the Rhysida ransomware group, according to the BBC. Meanwhile The Financial Times reports that the hackers, who claim to have stolen user data and employee details, have released low-res images of British Library employees’ passports and opened an auction for an undisclosed set of documents at 20 bitcoin, equivalent to about £600,000. The attackers are also demanding a ransom for the return of that data. A British Library spokesperson says the institution has confirmed this was a ransomware attack by a group known for such criminal activity. The Rhysida ransomware is offered as a service to criminal groups, which share profits with the owners. “We now have evidence that indicates the attackers might have copied some user data as part of the cyber-attack, and some additional data appears to have been published on the dark web [part of the internet accessible through a special browser]," says a British Library statement.

    Personal data theft

    Asked if the library planned to pay the ransom, the spokesperson says: “I am afraid we’re unable to share further information at this stage as it is an ongoing investigation.” The British Library is continuing to work with the Metropolitan Police and professional cybersecurity advisers to examine the stolen material. Exhibitions at the library, including Malorie Blackman: The Power of Stories (until 25 February), remain open. Users’ data has been compromised. “Our subsequent investigation showed that some personal data of library users was disclosed, which we immediately announced publicly,” the spokesperson says. “Since then, we have been in direct contact with our users to alert them and encouraged them to take sensible precautions to protect themselves from any consequences based on the advice from the National Cyber Security Centre.” In a blog post (15 December), Roly Keating, the library's chief executive, wrote: "The Library itself remains a crime scene, with a forensic investigation of our disrupted network still ongoing. In parallel, our teams are examining and analyzing the almost 600 gigabytes of leaked material that the attackers dumped online difficult and complex work that is likely to take months." He says that from early in the new year a phased return of certain key services will begin, starting with the most crucial component—the main catalogue—a reference-only version of which will be back online from 15 January, further facilitating the manual ordering which is available in the Reading Rooms. Other interim services will include increased on-site access to manuscripts and special collections. The library has also published a list of printed and online resources providing information about its ancient, medieval and early modern manuscripts.

    The Art Newspaper asked UK museums whether they were prepared for a cyber-attack. A British Museum spokesperson says the institution takes a broad range of measures to protect employees, visitors and the collection from such attacks, and would not comment on individual security arrangements. A Tate spokesperson says: “We never comment on our security systems. Charles Finlay, the founding executive director of the Rogers Cyber­secure Catalyst center at Toronto Metropolitan University, says that ransomware attacks are increasing in severity and sophistication, and that many ransomware gangs are based in Russia and Iran. He adds: “It is difficult to tell the nature of this attack [at the British Library] but it is a symptomatic of a significant challenge globally to protect critical infrastructure from cybersecurity attacks. “A ransomware attack is launched primarily for financial gain and can involve two ransom demands. The first may be demanded for the return of control of the digital systems. Another ransom may be demanded to keep secure the information [relating to the employees]. Organizations often pay the ransom. “The British Library may have activated a breach response plan, retaining third-party experts to assess the scope of the attack and attempt to mitigate it, which could be the start of a long process to retain trust with stakeholders.” Jiali Zhou, assistant professor in the Kogod School of Business at the American University, Washington DC, stresses that the attack highlights the vulnerability of public sector IT infrastructure. Public sector organizations often hold valuable data, making them very attractive targets for cybercriminals, he says.

    Resource-challenged

    Zhou adds: “In the case of public libraries, it can be particularly challenging to hold someone accountable for security breaches. Public libraries may also face budget constraints and limited resources, which can make it difficult for them to invest proactively in robust security measures unless they have already experienced prior security incidents.” He says the reported British Library ransom demand falls within the average range for such attacks.

    The real mystery is perhaps why the British Library was targeted. Some commentators believe the attack to be largely symbolic. Writing for the technology news website The Register, the UK journalist Rupert Goodwins points out that as one of the world’s largest libraries, with 170 million items, the library is “emblematic” of public knowledge. He says: “Its books may contain many secrets, but they’re open to researchers to find, interpret and publish—or they would be if the IT was working. It’s those researchers who are uniquely suffering now, with PhD students unable to finish their work before deadlines, and their professors unable to publish. Bad news, but hardly fatal and with minimal economic impact. Like many state, education and healthcare attacks, the intention seems to be as much disruption and bad publicity as enrichment.” Keating added meanwhile: "Libraries, research and education institutions are being targeted, whether for monetary gain or out of sheer malice. Society more widely, and all of us as individuals need to be alert to this fast-evolving threat... The people responsible for this cyber-attack stand against everything that libraries represent openness, empowerment, and access to knowledge."

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  • January 02, 2024 6:57 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from The Guardian

    Artificial intelligence could become a crucial weapon to deter graffiti vandals from defacing churches, castles and monasteries, after historic sites experienced a dramatic increase in such attacks over the past year. Historic England is pursuing a pioneering project that could see AI identify culprits from their tags, track their movements by matching graffiti in different areas, and analyze paints to establish where they obtained their spray cans. Stopping the vandalism could not be more urgent. In the past year, heritage organizations have become a prime target, according to research published on Sunday by Ecclesiastical Insurance, a specialist in the heritage sector. Its crime survey found that as many as a third (32%) of heritage sites have been defaced by graffiti, an increase of 9% on the previous year. In April, vandals targeted historic Linlithgow Palace in West Lothian – birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots – spray-painting graffiti across walls, flagstone floors and the 16th-century fountain. In January, they hit Rochester Castle in Kent – one of the nation’s most imposing Norman fortresses, whose construction began in 1087 – spraying graffiti on the walls.

    Mark Harrison, head of heritage crime strategy at Historic England, told the Observer: “We’re at the cutting edge of tackling this problem. These are heritage settings that belong to all of us and graffiti is criminal in every sense. It’s persistent and pervasive. It causes distress and affects the public’s sense of wellbeing, which is a really key indicator of how a community feels about itself.” He is collaborating on the project with Prof Robin Bryant, director of criminal justice practice at Canterbury Christ Church University, who is an expert in artificial intelligence. The problem is that an initial case of graffiti often encourages further occurrences. Removing it from ancient stone is complex, as the paint leaches, often leaving a permanent, ghostly stain. The AI exploration extends to its potential use in identifying lead that might have been stolen from a church roof – another tool for law enforcement officials and scrap dealers, requiring only an app on a smartphone. Harrison said: “Go on to Google Play or the App Store and you can get apps that identify plants, trees and rocks. It’s exactly the same process. We’ve been having early conversations about how we can use this technique to help us identify graffiti artists, who have got a very distinct style and use certain types of colors. But the human eye and brain can only deal with a certain amount of information. “To the human eye, graffiti may look similar, but to the machine it might be quite distinctly different. If you’ve got 100 tags in a neighborhood, that could be one person in one evening. If it’s left to linger, it just shows people this is a safe place to tag.” He added: “Working with manufacturers, we might be able to get it down – using the AI imaging – to say what brand of paint it is. Working with retailers, we can see if we can reduce the source. "Bryant said that AI offers the possibility to link offences together to the same offenders: “That, in classic policing terms, is normally a very good start in terms of an investigation. ”He added: “The recording systems of the police are not geared up. There are some specific heritage crimes which are recorded, such as the illegal dealing in cultural objects. But they’re very rare. The problem is that most heritage crimes are theft or criminal damage and, while these are obviously recorded by the police, there are no specific codes for offences such as criminal damage to a historic building caused by graffiti.”

    Other historic sites blighted by graffiti include the Charterhouse Heritage Park, the nation’s only Carthusian monastery with surviving interiors. It dates from 1381 and was given to the people of Coventry in 1940. Emily Thorpe, its general manager, spoke of the distress of seeing graffiti repeatedly sprayed over its 14th-century walls: “It’s a complete and utter lack of respect for how important it is in our history.” Cleaning the graffiti costs a huge amount of money, she said: “Historic England are helping with some training for us. We have a large bank of volunteers, but you need specialist skills and equipment. It almost feels like a losing battle.” Harrison said that the “natural surveillance” of the public through Heritage Watch – a neighborhood scheme specifically for historic sites and buildings – is “a good deterrent”. “Linking traditional community measures alongside the new and emerging technologies has got to be a glimmer of hope for us, hasn’t it?”

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  • January 02, 2024 6:19 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from KATU

    The Washington County (Oregon) Sheriff’s Office says a masked man broke into the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals early Christmas Eve morning. Deputies responded to a break-in alarm at 2:21 a.m. local time and said they found a broken window leading into the building and footprints heading south from the museum. Officials say deputies immediately set up containment in the area and attempted a K9 track, but the suspect was able to escape. Museum staff along with deputies searched the building and found a significant theft from a large display case containing numerous gold items. The total value of the missing items has not been reported. Officials say they reviewed the museum’s security footage and the suspect appears to be an average build white male wearing jeans and a jacket.

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  • December 12, 2023 7:38 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from Observer

    An art museum in Autun, France, has helped restitute an Old Master painting to the heirs of Jacques Goudstikker, a prominent Dutch Jewish art dealer whose collection was looted by the Nazis in 1940.Entitled Adam and Eve and attributed to Dutch painter Cornelis van Haarlem, the painting in question was recently offered as a donation to Musée Rolin. But upon evaluating the work, employees found a Goudstikker label fixed to its back and discovered that it was one of the works looted from the late dealer’s collection. The donors, who were unaware of the painting’s history and have chosen to remain anonymous, worked with the museum to notify Goudstikker’s family of its discovery. "The museum really acted in the way that you want museums to be acting; they flagged it, they contacted the family, they were doing the right thing to resolve this in a fair and correct way,” said Yaél Weitz, counsel on the case and an attorney with art law firm Kaye Spiegler. “They handled it in a way that we hope other museums will going forward,” she told ObserverGoudstikker, a dealer of Old Master and 19th-century artists, was forced to flee Europe in 1940 and leave his gallery of approximately 1,400 works behind. He died in an accident while escaping across the English Channel on a cargo boat. As his widow and son traveled to North America, a majority of his collection was subsequently turned over to Hermann Göring in a forced sale. A small black notebook Goudstikker used to catalog his artwork was later used as evidence by the dealer’s heirs as they fought for decades to recover his collection. In 2006, after an eight-year-long campaign led by Marei von Saher, Goudstikker’s daughter-in-law, the Dutch government agreed to return more than 200 works it had received following WWII in what constituted one of the largest restitutions of Nazi-looted artwork. More than half of these works were sold the following year in a series of auctions in New York, London and Amsterdam that netted $20.8 million in total. Meanwhile, a selection of Goudstikker paintings were exhibited in shows at New York’s Jewish Museum and the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut. Several other works belonging to Goudstikker have since been returned by the German city of Trier and institutions like the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Cummer Museum of Arts & Gardens. To celebrate the most recent return, Musée Rolin will hold a presentation ceremony on Dec. 13 to recognize the painting and the work involved in its restitution. “I am deeply appreciative of the efforts that led to the recovery of this piece of our family’s history,” said von Saher in a statement. “It is so gratifying to see justice achieved and have this painting returned to its rightful owners.” Not all restitution attempts have been so successful. Despite a lengthy litigation battle over two Lucas Cranach the Elder paintings from the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, a court ruling in 2018 found that the works rightfully belong to the museum. There are still hundreds of missing works out there, according to Weitz, who has worked on the restitution of Goudstikker artwork for years. “These restitutions are really meaningful,” she said. “They make a difference in a small way by righting some of the historical wrongs.”

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  • December 12, 2023 7:31 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from ABCnet

    Around 1,700 First Nations ancestors have been returned from overseas collecting institutions and private collections since 1990, including 139 from America. The Australian government said it continued to work closely with the National Museum to progress the repatriation of other ancestors still held in its care. Nyamba Buru Yawuru cultural coordinator Dianne Appleby said bringing home ancestors exposed the dark history that saw them taken from country in the first place. "We have to talk about the tragedy and the trauma and to make sense of these events," she said. She spoke about the massacres inflicted on Yawuru people, knowledge and stories of which were passed down by her grandmother, which led to the theft of ancestral remains. "They never understood the tragedies, why they were killed and taken away, and they took the bones away, it's like taking the children away," Ms Appleby said. "We are very sad. With an additional 36 sets of remains still held by overseas institutions — the majority in Europe — the project remains a long-term one for the Yawuru community.

    The Yawuru man's remains will be held in a specially constructed room at the WA Museum, which will act as a caretaker. Mr McKenzie said the plan was to eventually build a holding place in Broome and bring ancestors back home on Yawuru country, but there were still cultural practices that needed to be established. “We haven't structured a way of how we rebury the dead ... we only bury our dead and we have to find a way of reburying our dead," he said. Ross Chadwick, the museum's head of archaeology and anthropology, has been involved in the repatriation project for more than 20 years. "The community come to us occasionally to request that we care for their ancestors when there's not a suitable place or a suitable location for them to be taken back to on country," Dr Chadwick said. Dr Chadwick said the museum was constantly working to return ancestors to their traditional lands, while currently caring for around 120 ancestral remains. "The Western Australian Museum is privileged to be able to do this on behalf of community and it is a significant event for them," he said.

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  • December 12, 2023 7:18 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from ARTnews

    Four antiquities, valued at more than $1 million, were recently returned to Nepal by the Manhattan District Attorney Office, the office announced in a statement Monday. The pieces returned to Nepal on December 4 include a large pair of gilt bronze Bhairava masks, dating to the 16th century, that are collectively valued at $900,000. According to the Manhattan DA’s office, “the masks depict the god as Shiva, one of the Hindu trinity which also includes Brahma and Vishnu. They were used for ritual worship during the annual Indra Jātrā festival in Nepal. Both masks were stolen in the mid-1990s as part of a series of break-in robberies from the home of the family whose relatives created the masks. They were then smuggled to Hong Kong, sold at auction in New York, and subsequently entered the collections of the Rubin Museum of Art and the Dallas Museum of Art until they were recovered earlier this year by the Office.” The items were matched using family photographs submitted to an anonymous whistleblower known online as Lost Arts of Nepal. “As far as I know, the first such match in Nepal,” Erin Thompson, a professor specializing in art crime at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told ARTnews. Thompson submitted the tip from Lost Arts to the DA’s office in September 2022. As part of the investigation, the DA’s office retrieved the police report filed by the family at the time of the thefts, and had it translated by a Nepali lawyer.

    According to Thompson, the Bhairava masks are also not for people, but pots for beer, which would then be served to worshipers during the Indra Jātrā festival. One of the other items repatriated to Nepal, a 10-armed Durga statue, was seized as part of the office’s investigation into convicted art trafficker Subhash Kapoor. According to the Manhattan DA’s office, the statue was allegedly smuggled out of Nepal “by the Zeeshan and Zahid Butt trafficking network, which was run by Kapoor’s alleged co-conspirators. The statue was then purchased from the Butts in Bangkok by Kapoor and subsequently trafficked into New York in the early 2000s, before it was recovered from a Kapoor-owned storage unit.” The four items were returned to Nepal during a ceremony with Nepal’s acting New York Consul General Bishnu Prasad Gautam and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Deputy Special Agent in Charge Christopher Lau on Monday. “The return of these illegally exported four masterpieces is a significant step in reclaiming Nepal’s cultural heritage and preserving its historical treasures,” Gautam said in a press statement. “This has deeply contributed to Nepal’s national efforts of recovery and reinstatement of lost cultural properties. The cooperation and collaboration between Nepal and the Manhattan District Attorney in this field, like in others, are deeply commendable and inspirations for the international community in the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural artifacts.”

    On December 4, the Rubin Museum issued a press statement acknowledging that it had placed the mask under review “with its collections team as well as independent researchers” after seeing the social media posts, then removed it from public view and posted public signage in the galleries about this process. The statement also acknowledged that the Manhattan DA’s office showed the museum “corroborating evidence the mask was stolen from a site in Dolakha in March 1994.” It reviewed the documentation, deaccessioned the mask, and voluntarily agreed to turn it over to the authorities. The institution said it acquired the mask in 2005, with “no evidence of theft or unlawful removal from Nepal at the time of acquisition until evidence was provided by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office,” citing previous transactions on the art market, including a public auction at Sotheby’s in 1996. “While we have treasured this exceptional mask and enjoyed sharing it with visitors in our galleries since 2005 as well as through several scholarly publications, the evidence presented is clear, as is our decision to return the work to Nepal,” Rubin Museum executive director Jorrit Britschgi said in a press statement. “We’re deeply sorry for the loss its removal has caused community members in Dolakha. We hope the work can return to its former location, yet also understand that the return will not remedy the wrongs that were done.” The museum also announced it had committed additional resources through the appointment of Linda Colet as its new head of collections management and provenance research. Provenance research in museums and private collections often focuses on scholarly books or photography archives to determine whether or not an object was stolen. For Thompson, the successful use of family photographs as proof of the Bhairava masks’ origins also demonstrates how repatriations are handled by foreign antiquities collections. “I think that there should be a push toward museums and collectors to really think about returning things before that proof comes up, and not waiting until that happens,” Thompson said.

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  • December 12, 2023 7:12 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from Jerusalem Post

    The president of the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court sent him to involuntary hospitalization for four years, a period equal to the maximum prison sentence for the offense attributed to him. The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Sunday acquitted Stephen Edward Porth, a 40-year-old American tourist from California, accused of smashing valuable historical statues at the Israel Museum. His defense attorney, Nick Kaufman, claimed that he suffers from "Jerusalem Syndrome" and admitted on his behalf that he committed the acts attributed to him. A psychiatric opinion received in his case last Thursday found him competent to stand trial, but at the same time determined that at the time of the incident he was not responsible for his actions.

    The president of the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, Judge Shmuel Herbst, who acquitted him, sent him to involuntary hospitalization for four years, a period equal to the maximum prison sentence for the offense attributed to him. The incident took place on the afternoon of Thursday, October 5. According to the indictment, Forth, who went to the classical archaeology section of the National Museum, where statues from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods are displayed, threw a Roman marble statue dated 201-211 AD to the Griffon, a mythological animal with the body, tail and hind legs of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle. which places the foot on the wheel of fate of the goddess Nemesis, as well as a marble statue from the late Hellenistic period from the first century BC, of Athena, the goddess of war. Security cameras recorded Forth's actions. The damage he caused was estimated at $1 million. The police claimed that he acted cunningly and premeditatedly and waited until closing time so that there would be no crowd. According to the investigators, forth intended to break more art sculptures, but his actions created a noise and so he stopped. He said he did not regret his actions and had wanted to do so on previous visits to Israel and other museums. During interrogation, he confessed to the acts and claimed that these statues contradicted his faith and religion. He told investigators that these were "statues of idolatry, contrary to the laws of the Torah."

    According to the indictment, he then tried to flee the museum, but security guards detained him and called police officers who arrested him. He has been behind bars ever since because he failed to raise the amount required for bail. The Israel Museum said after the incident that "the museum's management sees this incident as a worrisome and exceptional case. The museum's management condemns violence of any kind and hopes that such incidents will not be repeated."  The same is true of the director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Eli Escozido, who said that it is the head of a marble statue of the goddess Athena from the Roman period discovered in the 1960s in northern Beit Shean, and the statue of Griffon II, a symbol of a pagan deity from the Roman period, which was previously exposed in the northwestern Negev. "This is a shocking case of the destruction of cultural values," Escozido said, "We see with concern the fact that cultural values are being destroyed by religiously motivated extremists. We will speak with the management of the Israel Museum to ensure that such incidents do not recur."

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  • December 12, 2023 7:06 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from BBC

    A bronze sculpture of a pigeon thought to be stolen from a street in Edinburgh has been found - after it was handed to a local café. Craig Jones Rowley spotted the bird on its side on Elm Row after he said it was "hacked" from its plinth on Sunday. He gave it to a friend who works in the nearby café for safekeeping before the artwork was reported missing to the council on Wednesday. Police initially investigated the bird's disappearance as theft but are now probing its removal as an act of vandalism. City of Edinburgh Council said it was co-operating with the investigation. The birds, created by sculptor Shona Kinloch, were introduced to the area in 1996 before being removed ten years later. They were reinstalled in July upon completion of the extension to the city's tram line down Leith Walk. The damaged bird has since been returned to the council for repair after it was traced to Cafe Elmrow. Mr Rowley, 54, who owns Dean Jones Hairdressing on Elm Row, said he was "disappointed" to see the sculpture damaged on its return. He said: "It just seems a bit pointless. I don't know who damaged it or why. "I believe it has been hacked and cut with some kind of tool. They weigh a lot, it would have to be kicked with some force to take it off. "They are such a pleasant wee bit of street art. I don't really understand why it would be damaged and then just dumped there." Each of the bronze sculptures weigh up to 20lb (9kg). 

    They endured several instances of theft and vandalism for a decade before being removed altogether in 2006 during initial moves to extend the city's urban rail network to Leith. The birds were later refurbished and completely recast prior to their return. The council's transport and environment convener, Scott Arthur, said the sculpture would be reinstalled as soon as possible. He said: “Of course, this is still a case of vandalism, which we take very seriously. "We will continue working with Police Scotland to assist investigations into this crime.”

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  • December 12, 2023 6:59 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from Glassgow Times

    Hannah Bright, 22, Alex Dekoning, 25, Emma Brown, 32, Carmen Lean, 29, and Jennifer Kowalski, 28, all face allegations at Glasgow Sheriff Court. The five face a charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the city's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Court papers state they used a megaphone and shouted while delivering a speech. A separate allegation says that, while acting together, they maliciously attached themselves to the frame of a painting. The charge claims this was done by using an adhesive. Allegations go on to say they spray-painted the walls and floor at the gallery which caused damage to it. Kowalski, of the city's Govanhill, faces a separate charge on her own of breaching a court undertaking order not to attend, organize or participate in any protest in Scotland. Kowalski, and Dekoning, of Newcastle, Brown of Cessnock, and Lean and Bright both of Glasgow city center deny the charges against them. A further hearing has been set for next month.

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  • December 12, 2023 6:53 PM | Anonymous

    Reposted from CISA

    The DHS “If You See Something, Say Something®” Campaign recently released a new general awareness video, which can be used for a variety of purposes (public outreach, trainings, etc.).   The new video highlights the campaign’s mission, educates the public on signs that may indicate a potential nexus to terrorism, and how to report suspicious activity to appropriate local authorities.  

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