Art may be in the eye of the beholder, but if you can’t behold a workof art to begin with, what is the use of eyes? That’s the questionart curators and security experts have been grappling with at the MunchMuseum in Oslo, Norway, for much of the past year.And the answer right now is: no good at all. On August 22, 2004, armedthieves barged into the museum, grabbed two Edvard Munch masterpieces –”The Scream,” an icon of emotional angst, and “The Madonna” – andsprinted to a waiting getaway car. The heist closed the museumfor ten months. And although authorities have arrested several suspectsin the case, the paintings are still missing. Reopened in June with new security measures, the Munch Museumnow places every painting behind a wall of glass. And in what artcritics say is an airport-like show of security, patrons who enter thebuilding must pass through X-ray machines and metal detectors. (To seesome of these features, go to the Norwegian news publication called Aftenposten.)Apparently, the need to protect art from thieves easily trumps theconvenience of patrons. To a degree, of course, this has always beenthe case. Museums have long employed security guards who patrolgalleries, warning off people who get too close to a painting orsculpture. “The Mona Lisa” which was stolen in 1911 and recovered twoyears later, has been behind glass for years. (Go to The Louvre in Paris and click on the image of Da Vinci’s painting to see its location in Room 13.) Masterpieces like the Mona Lisa are not the only museum pieces keptbehind glass: fragile or extremely valuable objects have been glassedoff for decades. These days, most people who want to put their hands onexhibits understand that they will find true happiness only at theircity’s children’s museum. Art critics who’ve dubbed the Oslo musuem “Fortress Munch” arelamenting a marked shift in the definition of “too close.” But in thisage of acute threats and risks, the experts who guided the MunchMuseum’s decision-makers in a $6 million security overhaul aredistinctlyunapologetic. “This is the price we have to pay,” themuseum’s director, Gunnar Sorensen, told The New York Times when themuseum reopened. After the thefts last year, Sorensen told the newspaper, “I wascriticized because the museum was not strong and safe enough. We’ve nowdone everything we were advised to do, and you see the result of that.” The results are open to question, and not just from art lovers. Sciencewriter Edward Dolnick, who wrote a book about the theft of anotherversion of the “Scream,” says in this articlethat the security measures are like subway rider searches in New Yorkand airport security: they have more psychological than that actualrisk management benefit. “The gains in security are dubious,” he says.”The loss of enjoyment to artlovers is guaranteed.”Related linksThe Art of Securing PricelessnessMuseum HeistImage of “The Scream” Related content news Is China waging a cyber war with Taiwan? Nation-state hacking groups based in China have sharply ramped up cyberattacks against Taiwan this year, according to multiple reports. By Gagandeep Kaur Dec 01, 2023 4 mins Cyberattacks Government Government news Apple patches info-stealing, zero day bugs in iPads and Macs The vulnerabilities that can allow the leaking of sensitive information and enable arbitrary code execution have had exploitations in the wild. By Shweta Sharma Dec 01, 2023 3 mins Zero-day vulnerability feature The CSO guide to top security conferences Tracking postponements, cancellations, and conferences gone virtual — CSO Online’s calendar of upcoming security conferences makes it easy to find the events that matter the most to you. By CSO Staff Dec 01, 2023 6 mins Technology Industry IT Skills Events news Conti-linked ransomware takes in $107 million in ransoms: Report A ransomware campaign linked to the ostensibly defunct Conti malware group has targeted mostly US businesses, in a costly series of attacks. By Jon Gold Nov 30, 2023 4 mins Ransomware Malware Cybercrime Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe