Cybercrime in the Art Market: A Growing Threat to Galleries and Museums

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the art world to rapidly adopt digital technologies, but this shift has also exposed galleries and museums to increased cybercrime risks. A notable case involved London's Simon C. Dickinson gallery and the Rijksmuseum Twenthe in the Netherlands, where hackers intercepted email negotiations and diverted a £2.4 million payment intended for a John Constable painting to a Hong Kong account. The museum sued the gallery for negligence, but the court dismissed initial claims, leaving ownership of the artwork unresolved. Similar attacks have hit other prominent galleries, including Simon Lee, Thomas Dane, Rosenfeld Porcini, Laura Bartlett, and Hauser & Wirth, with losses ranging from £10,000 to £1 million. The closure of Laura Bartlett gallery in 2017 was directly attributed to a cyber-attack. In 2019, Artsy, a leading online art platform, suffered a data breach affecting one million accounts. Despite warnings from the Society of London Art Dealers and the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA), the art sector remains largely unprepared, with few standardized best practices. In Italy, concerns have focused on e-invoicing, Brexit, and export restrictions rather than cybersecurity. The article emphasizes that cybercrime not only causes financial losses but also damages reputation, a critical asset in the art world.