Hackers have managed to breach security in the computer system of
the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos in Switzerland, giving
hackers access to credit card details of some of the most powerful
people in the world.
A report in the Swiss Sunday newspaper Sonntags Zeitung that
hackers managed to breach the World Economic Forum (WEF) computer
system at Davos in Switzerland has been confirmed.
The hackers are believed to have obtained the names, addresses,
mobile phone numbers, credit card details and travel arrangements
of some of the most powerful people in the world including Bill
Gates, Bill Clinton and Yasser Arafat. Sonntags Zeitung was sent a
CD-ROM continuing the sensitive information on Sunday.
Charles McLean, the forum’s Director of Communications and
Public Affairs told Reuters, "We do take this very seriously, and
we are going to be investigating this aggressively." Although he
did not have any idea how the confidential information got out, it
is being treated as a crime.
McLean confirmed the report in the Swiss newspaper was true but
did not speculate whether the hackers might be anti-globalisation
protesters.
In recent years, the WEF has been increasingly targeted by
protesters who, despite being kept out of the Swiss town of Davos
by police, staged the World Social Forum counter-event in Brazil at
the same time.
