Case Studies

From Password Risks to Secure Access: How Van Gogh Museum Secured Every Login with Uniqkey

Company name
The Van Gogh Museum
Industry
Arts & Cultural Heritage
About the company
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is an iconic cultural institution showcasing Vincent van Gogh's life and art. Beyond curating and preserving priceless artwork, the museum also prioritizes cybersecurity to ensure secure digital experiences for its millions of online and onsite visitors.
Achievements
2FA implemented across the entire organization.
Employees didn't use 2FA verification, Uniqkey ensured effortless adoption.
Smooth onboarding and top-tier customer support. The documentation provided upfront allowed us to prepare thoroughly, and the onboarding session was smooth and detailed.
Standout features: service overview and audit capabilities. Uniqkey’s Service Overview and Audit Capabilities offer the museum critical insights into password health and security practices.
Challenge - Enhance data protection and compliance with EU regulations

Before adopting Uniqkey, the Van Gogh Museum’s password management involved various methods that posed security risks, such as using Excel sheets and browser-based password storage.

According to Rob De Zwaan, Chief Information Security Officer at the museum, “We initially tried another password tool, but it was too complex, which led to low adoption.”

A survey revealed that 64% of organizations use insecure password storage methods (source: Ponemon Institute, 2023), highlighting the need for a reliable solution. The museum sought a user-friendly, centralized password manager to mitigate security and usability challenges.

“Uniqkey isn’t just a vendor; they’re a partner genuinely committed to understanding our needs and helping us achieve secure, streamlined operations.”

Rob De Zwaan
CISO, Van Gogh Museum
Solution - Security Ease-of-use 2FA

For Rob De Zwaan, Uniqkey stood out thanks to its powerful combination of robust features and responsive support.

“The fact that Uniqkey’s security is trusted by military organisations confirmed its reliability,” he explained.

What set Uniqkey apart was its ability to deliver enhanced security through military-grade encryption and Zero-Knowledge architecture, seamless integration with the museum’s existing authentication platform, and intuitive shared vaults that enabled secure team collaboration without ever exposing sensitive password data.

"The fact that Uniqkey’s security is trusted by military organizations confirmed its reliability."

Rob De Zwaan
CISO, Van Gogh Museum
Cybersecurity Statistics

- 64% of organizations use unsecured methods for storing passwords (Ponemon Institute, 2023).

- 45% of breaches stem from compromised passwords (Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 2023).

- 71% of data breaches target non-compliant entities, making GDPR-aligned solutions essential for EU-based organizations (European Cybersecurity Organization, 2023).

"Uniqkey’s high level of security, intuitive interface, and dedicated support make it an ideal choice for institutions like ours. I would certainly recommend it to any organization focused on enhancing digital security."

Rob De Zwaan
CISO, Van Gogh Museum
The result - Smooth Onboarding and Top-Tier Customer Support

Rob De Zwaan highlighted the ease of Uniqkey’s onboarding and the strength of customer support:

“The documentation provided upfront allowed us to prepare thoroughly, and the onboarding session was smooth and detailed.”

The Uniqkey support team’s commitment is clear: 92% of Uniqkey support queries are resolved within 24 hours (Uniqkey Customer Satisfaction Report, 2023).

“Support is always swift, asking the right questions and prioritizing our issues effectively,” Rob added.

The result - Standout Features: Service Overview and Audit Capabilities

Uniqkey’s Service Overview and Audit Capabilities offer the museum critical insights into password health and security practices.

“We use the Service Overview to identify weak passwords and prompt users to strengthen them,” said Rob.

A recent study shows that 73% of passwords are reused by employees (source: LastPass, 2023), emphasizing the need for regular password health checks.

The audit tools also enable the museum to track access to specific entries, helping the team trace and address potential breaches. “We focus on education and support, ensuring staff understand secure practices rather than a punitive approach.”

The result - Impact on Daily Operations

Uniqkey’s shared vaults and streamlined access management have transformed daily operations for the Van Gogh Museum’s IT team.

“The ease of creating shared vaults and assigning users has improved access speed to our 1,000+ password entries,” Rob De Zwaan explained.

The flexibility of keeping passwords separated by department while allowing easy sharing has enhanced both efficiency and security across teams.

The result - Cybersecurity at the Heart of Van Gogh Museum’s Mission

Cybersecurity is paramount at the Van Gogh Museum, not only for regulatory compliance but also to instill confidence in visitors using the museum’s digital platforms.

“A core part of our mission is to ensure a safe online environment for our visitors,” De Zwaan explained. A survey indicates that 94% of visitors prefer secure websites for transactions (source: European Consumer Trust Report, 2023), making Uniqkey’s security essential for maintaining digital trust.

Uniqkey’s advanced security capabilities, such as timeboxing and geofencing for high-risk entries, meet the museum’s specific needs.

Additionally, Uniqkey’s EU hosting and GDPR compliance played a decisive role.

Rob emphasized, “We had concerns about data storage in non-EU regions due to data privacy laws. Uniqkey’s EU-based hosting reassured us of compliance and data safety.”

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Three reasons why Van Gogh Museum chose Uniqkey.
Easy, effortless and minimal admin work.

Easy to use in a busy day.
Uniqkey is first and foremost incredibly easy touse. This is a huge advantage, as anycomplexity of a tool will hinder user adoption.By being simple to use, employees willinglyadopt the tool as part of their daily workflow,increasing the organization's cybersecurity inthe process.

Makes 2FA adoption effortless.
2FA is inherently time-consuming as it addsextra steps to a user's login flow. Byautomating the entering of 2FA codes, andsimply requiring the user to authorize the loginon their phone, 2FA is made frictionless, whichstrengthens the adoption of the security system.

Requires minimal administration. Because of its intuitive and self-serving design,Uniqkey requires little administration. This hasbeen cruical for Caljans IT department aslimited resources forces them to be as efficientin their job as possible. Uniqkey's centralizedaccess management platform also makesemployee access delegation simple andeffective.

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