Christie’s, the renowned British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie, has reportedly fallen victim to a cyber attack, potentially impacting its online auction services. Despite this setback, the London-based auction house remains optimistic that its phone and in-house services will continue uninterrupted.
A subsidiary of Groupe Artemis, Christie’s is working diligently to restore website operations promptly. They have assured clients that they will receive regular updates as the investigation progresses. Simultaneously, the security teams are actively enhancing cybersecurity measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
While the website is undergoing restoration, the auction remains open for bidding. Currently, the spotlight is on rare luxury watches once owned by racing car legend Michael Schumacher, who is currently in a vegetative state.
Meanwhile, Christie’s New York auction, which commenced on Tuesday, features a collection from art collector Rosa De La Cruz. This collection includes 20th and 21st-century watches, featuring pieces from renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Georgia O’Keeffe. These items are available for viewing on a temporary website hosted for a few weeks.
From a hacker’s perspective, disrupting the services of an auction website may not yield significant gains. However, stolen data, especially rare and valuable information, could be of interest to certain parties on the dark web, albeit to a limited extent.
Nevertheless, such attacks can result in substantial financial losses for public companies like Christie’s, which generate profits from commissions earned through high-profile auctions. In an era where digital transactions are crucial for revenue generation, every minute is vital for organizations to mitigate such risks effectively.
RansomHub, a criminal gang associated with BlackCat ransomware group has claimed to have encrypted the servers.
