Christie’s Website Brought Down by Hackers, Watch Auction Postponed
The site has been down since Thursday evening, just ahead of its spring auctions.
As of press time Monday, the Christie’s website displayed the following error message: “We apologize that our full website is currently offline. We are working to resolve this as soon as possible and regret any inconvenience.”
A Christie’s spokesperson told National Jeweler Monday, “Christie’s confirms a technology security issue has impacted some of our systems, including our website. We are taking all necessary steps to manage this matter with the engagement of a team of additional technology experts.
“We regret any inconvenience to our clients and our priority is to minimize any further disruption.”
In an emailed statement to The New York Times on Sunday evening, Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerruti said eight auctions on the schedule for this week will proceed, with bidding taking place in person and by phone.
The rare watches sales, which includes timepieces owned by Formula One driver Michael Schumacher and originally was supposed to take place today, has been postponed until Tuesday, the auction house announced on Instagram.
The statement shared with the Times did not address what would happen with the online portion of the auctions.
As of press time, visitors to the Christie’s website could view contact details and browse catalogs for the rare watches and upcoming Magnificent Jewels auctions, as well as the 20th/21st Century Art sale series in New York, but they were not able to bid.
This is the second attack the auction house has experienced in recent years. It suffered a data breach in August that shared the locations of artworks held by wealthy collectors.
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