TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An assistant researcher caused images of the National Palace Museum's treasures to be leaked onto Chinese websites in June 2022, revealed Museum Deputy Director Hung Yonh-Thai (黃永泰) on Tuesday (March 14).
The public can buy high-quality images of the National Palace Museum’s treasures at low prices on unauthorized Chinese websites, such as Baidu, Taobao, and Shuge. It is alleged that this leak was a result of Chinese hackers accessing the museum’s database, according to Mirror Media.
However, Hung said the accident was caused by an assistant researcher, surnamed Lin, who used a public system to process 400,000 photos. While the photos underwent processing, anonymous users had access to the backend and downloaded the photos.
Hung estimated that 100,000 images, including famous ones, had been leaked.
At the time of the incident, Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) served as the museum's director. Hung said that Wu opened an investigation shortly after it was reported, but nine months later, those photos are still available for illegal download.
Hung noted that the museum has already asked the platforms to take down the museum’s images, and it plans to sue those accountable.
700 high-quality photos of the museum's treasures are sold at the price of NT$17 (US$0.5) on Taobao. (Screenshot photo, Taobao)
