Translators Working on Dan Brown's Inferno Kept Locked in Publisher's High-Security Basement for Days

Posted on May 10, 2013

Security has been extraordinarily tight for Ban Brown's upcoming novel, Inferno, which will be released on May 14. Dan Brown's publishers wanted the book to be published in multiple languages simultaneously, so they hired several translators. The Independent reports that the translators were locked in the basement of Mondadori's headquarters in Milan where high security procedures were enacted to keep any text from the book leaking online.

Here are some of the security procedures involved in translating Inferno:

Translators were locked in Mondadori's windowless high-security basement
There were armed security guards in the room.
There was only one computer connected to the Internet in the room. Translators could use it, but they would be watched by an armed security guard while they surfed the Internet or sent email.
Translators worked on their translations seven days a week until 8 p.m.
The translators' laptops were screwed to their workstations and could not be removed.
The translators had to sign a log book whenever they left the bunker explaining why they were leaving.
The translators were allowed to eat in the cafeteria at Mondadori but they had to use an assigned cover story to explain what they were doing there. They could certainly not say, "I'm here translating Dan Brown's Inferno."
The manuscripts were stored in safes when not in use.

It almost sounds as if Dan Brown came up with this security protocol himself. The Independent says the experience was highly unusual for translators, who usually work alone. However, one translator enjoyed the experience and said the high-security bunker had a "playground atmosphere" by the end. Inferno has not leaked online, so it must have been a success.