British Museum forced to partly close following cyberattack by ex-worker

• World-famous British Museum suffers days-long cyberattack
• The attack was caused by a former IT contractor
• Exhibitions were closed over the weekend, but have since reopened

A former employee of the British Museum has been arrested on suspicion of burglary and criminal damage after allegedly performing an on-site cyberattack which shut down exhibits for several days.

“An IT contractor who was dismissed last week trespassed into the museum and shut down several of our systems. Police attended and he was arrested at the scene,” a spokesperson for the British Museum said.

The former contractor’s actions caused the ticketing system for the museum to cease functioning, leading to exhibits only being open to pre-booked bookings and members.

Exhibitions closed

The Metropolitan Police said that it had been called to the museum at 8.25pm last Thursday on reports that “a man entered the British Museum and caused damage ...