Christie’s hacked before $840 million art auction

Christie’s is about to try to sell an estimated $840 million of art this week. But it had a major wrench thrown into its plans last week when hackers took down its website.

“We apologise that our full website is currently offline,” a redirected version of the fine art auction house’s site was telling visitors as of Monday afternoon. “We are looking to resolve this as soon as possible and regret any inconvenience.”

In a statement provided to Quartz, Christie’s said that “our executive team, working with a team of internal and external technology experts, are taking all action to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”

Three major auctions are supposed to be happening this week, according to artnet, including:

🎨 The collection of the late art collector Rosa de la Cruz, expected to bring in $30 million on May 14

🎨 A grouping of 21st century art, expected to bring in more than $100 million on May 14

🎨 A grouping of 20th century art, expected to bring in $500 million on May 16

Christie’s said in December that its digital platform was a key growth driver and a “gateway to build and expand relationships with new and younger buyers.” It said 33% of new American bidders and buyers came to the company through its online platform.

The New York Times first reported the outage on Friday, saying that Christie’s first noticed that things were awry on Thursday evening. The auction house referred to the hack as a “technology security issue.”

On Sunday, the paper reported that all but one auction — a collection of high-end watches — will go ahead as scheduled. For now, the primary bidding will be happening over the phone and in-person. A placeholder website is being set up to accommodate online buyers who wished to view catalogs for the auctions. Buyers will be able to submit bids online through the company’s Christie’s Live service.