Recommendation 21

Common resilience issues faced by the museums and galleries include the increasing threats they face of cyberattacks and of thefts of items from their collections, as evidenced by the October 2023 cyber-attack at the British Library and the thefts reported in 2023 at the British Museum.47 We therefore asked the Department how it was going to support the museums and galleries to address these threats. The Department 42 Q 26 43 Qq 32 and 34-37 44 Q 30 45 Qq 29-30 46 Q 29 47 C&AG report paras 19, 3.26 and 3.28 15 acknowledged that its approach to supporting these independent organisations against cyber-attacks had been more reactive in recent years, for example, providing assistance in the event of an attack. It has also promoted the sharing of good practice, for example, getting the British Library to speak at a session with its other arms-length bodies, including museums and galleries, about the cyber-attack it had suffered.48