British Museum partly closed after dismissed contractor shut down systems
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The British Museum closed part of its site in late January 2025 after a former contractor entered the building and shut down several of its systems.
The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to the museum at about 20:25 on January 23, 2025 and arrested a man in his fifties at the scene on suspicion of burglary and criminal damage. He was released on bail pending further inquiries.
The museum said the individual was an IT contractor who had been dismissed the previous week, and that he had trespassed into the museum and shut down several systems. Police described damage to the museum's security and IT systems. The museum did not detail which systems were affected or say whether any data had been accessed.
Some permanent galleries were closed on Friday, January 24, and all temporary exhibitions remained shut over the weekend. The museum said ticket holders had been alerted and offered refunds while it worked to return to full operation. The trade publication Museums + Heritage reported on January 27, 2025 that the museum said service was back to normal and that it was fully open to visitors.