Hackers suspected of stealing data on Gates, other leaders

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Hackers suspected of stealing data on Gates, other leaders

Monday, February 5, 2001

By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

GENEVA -- Hackers appear to have stolen data on thousands of world and business leaders, including former President Clinton, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, organizers of the World Economic Forum said Monday.

The weekly SonntagsZeitung of Zurich reported Sunday that hackers have produced a CD-ROM containing secured information on 27,000 people who have attended the global forum in recent years.

Lawyers for the World Economic Forum, held annually in Davos, Switzerland, were filing for an injunction to stop further dissemination of the data, the forum's chief spokesman, Charles McLean, said Monday. The perpetrators are unknown.

"We regard this as a serious crime, not as a prank," he said.

The newspaper said the material -- including the credit card numbers of some 1,400 prominent people -- had been collected by anti-globalization protesters. Opponents who have mounted demonstrations against the forum maintain that it is an exclusive club acting in the interests of big business and against the world's poor.

The data also included the numbers to passports and personal cellular phones of many of the government and business leaders who have attend the annual gathering in Davos in recent years.

Details published in the SonntagsZeitung report appeared to be largely correct, McLean said, but nothing sensitive on Clinton had been obtained, he said. Clinton was the featured speaker at Davos a year ago.

A preliminary investigation indicated that the security breach was in "a remnant database that contained information about participants at some of our regional meetings" held last year," McLean told The Associated Press.

"They did not penetrate our main database; they did not penetrate the Davos database, apparently," he said.

Swiss authorities said they were investigating to determine whether the government should prosecute the hackers on grounds of invasion of privacy.

The forum is e-mailing those on the list and setting up a hot line for executives. "We're making a great effort today to make sure every one of those people has been contacted and made aware of the problem," McLean said.

Some 3,200 people attend the six-day meeting to exchange ideas on the world economy and problems, make deals and enjoy the Alps. Regional meetings are held in varying locations around the world. They also draw government and business leaders, but on a smaller scale than Davos.

© 2001 The Associated Press.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), February 05, 2001


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