• Hackers stole Uffizi’s photographic archive but backups restored
• Reports claim codes, passwords, and maps were taken
• Museum denies claims, says upgrades were pre-planned

The Uffizi Galleries, one of the most popular museums in Italy, has confirmed it suffered a cyberattack earlier in 2026 in which it lost a treasure trove of sensitive data.

Located in Florence, the Uffizi Gallery hosts artworks from some of the world’s most famous artists, such as Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and others.

In early February 2026, the museum was struck by unnamed hackers who “emptied the servers” and made away with the entire photographic department’s archive - however the museum had the entire archive backed up, which allowed it to quickly restore everything that was lost.

Replacing the hardware and moving valuables

A report from Cybernews quotes local media reporting the attackers stole “codes, passwords, alarm systems, internal maps, entrances, exits, and service routes,” as well as the location of surveillance cameras and sensors.

But the museum denied these claims, saying there was “no evidence whatsoever” that the crooks took any maps, at all. It also said that the location of the cameras can easily be seen by simply walking into the museum and looking up.

It is still in the process of replacing the hardware. However, it says the police recommended the upgrade in 2024, since the cameras were analog, instead of digital.

The museum also moved some of its possessions to a vault in the Bank of Italy, and closed parts of the palace a few days after the breach. This, too, was allegedly planned months in advance and has nothing to do with the incident.

Cybernews said the hackers reached out to the museum’s director via SMS, threatening to release the stolen files on the dark web unless a ransom payment is made. We don’t know what the response was, but so far, nothing has been leaked.

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Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.