Swiss police make arrest in computer hack at Davos summit

By Rick Perera, IDG News Service

February 26, 2001 12:00 PM ET

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Computerworld - Swiss police have confirmed the arrest of a man suspected of breaking into computers at the World Economic Forum during its annual meeting in late January.

The man, who is 20 years old, Swiss and works part-time as an IT consultant, was taken into custody Friday in Bern, Switzerland, said a spokeswoman for the Geneva police.

The World Economic Forum, an organization of industrial and political leaders, said Feb. 5 that its data servers had been attacked during its annual meeting in the Swiss resort town of Davos (see story).

According to the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung, which viewed a CD-ROM provided by the hackers, the culprits stole sensitive personal information such as the phone numbers, e-mail addresses and credit card numbers of forum participants, including former President Bill Clinton, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates.

The suspect faces charges of data theft, unauthorized access to a computer system, property damage and abuse of credit cards, said the police spokeswoman.

"Because the case is still active, we can't say anything more," she said.

"It's in the hands of the justice, and we're waiting to see what happens," said a forum spokeswoman.

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