Top online gallery provider takes systems offline following ransomware attack
Hackers appear to have been incredibly busy during the 2023 holiday season, after yet another company announced it had been hit by a disruptive ransomware attack.
Gallery Systems, a provider of software solutions for museums that had to shut down parts of its infrastructure as a result of the incident, has notified its customers of the breach.
In the announcement, shared with BleepingComputerGallery Systems said the attack occurred on December 28 and because the endpoints were encrypted, it was forced to remove them.
Unknown attackers
“On Thursday, December 28, 2023, certain computer systems running our software were encrypted, causing them to become inoperable,” the company said in its announcement.
“We have been working around the clock to restore access to the software and we appreciate your patience during this time. We will restore your data from the latest available backup.”
Gallery Systems is a major supplier of gallery and collection management software, whose portfolio apparently includes more than 800 museums. Some of his clients include the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met), the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) in Seattle, the Barnes Foundation, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), says BleepingComputer.
Some of the servers the company had to take down hosted an online public viewing platform called eMuseum.
The company has now notified the police and is currently investigating the impact of the incident. Gallery Systems promised to provide further details as the investigation continues.
So far, no threat actors have claimed responsibility for the attack. Normally, a hacker collective would add its victim to an underground data breach site to increase pressure and force it to negotiate a ransom.