World Economic Forum hacking suspect nabbed
Published: 24 Feb 2001 08:24 GMT
Swiss police have arrested a man suspected of hacking the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and stealing the credit card details of distinguished attendees.
Police in Geneva swooped on the suspect on Friday following an intensive investigation, according to French press reports.
The World Economic Forum saw political and economic dignitaries convene on Davos earlier this month to discuss global economic issues. A week later, it emerged that hackers had infiltrated the venue's computer system and obtianed personal data belonging to a number of attendants, including some credit card details.
The hackers sent the information to the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung, which confirmed that it was genuine.
The attention gained by the Forum from anti-globalisation and anti-capitalism protestors sparked suspicions that the hackers could have had political motivations.
Security consultant Neil Barrett of Information Risk Management said the high profile nature of this event would have given greater impetuous to an investigation of the hack attack.
Police have not released the name of the suspect or details of how he was captured.
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