Police 'arrest Davos hacking suspect'

Security was watertight - but computers were vulnerable

Police in Switzerland have arrested a man accused of hacking into sensitive computer programmes at the Davos economic forum, say Swiss media reports.

The security breach caused severe embarrassment for the summit's organisers when it was confirmed that the hackers had gained personal details of guests including Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, outgoing US President Bill Clinton and Microsoft boss Bill Gates.

Microsoft's Bill Gates was among those to have his details stolen

The suspect was arrested in Switzerland on Friday, said the Swiss news agency ATS.

Four hackers calling themselves Virtual Monkeywrench have previously said they carried out the attack as a protest against the powerful.

ATS said the man's arrest had followed detective work by two police specialists brought in to track the hackers down.

Swiss officials have not commented on the arrest.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was targeted

Details of the Davos attack were revealed earlier this month, after the summit had ended.

The hackers had managed to obtain information including some guests' credit card numbers, mobile phone numbers and home addresses.

To prove their success, they sent a copy of the information to a Swiss newspaper, Sonntagszeitung, which verified it was genuine.

Anti-globalisation protesters attempted to reach Davos during the summit for a more traditional protest, but were kept at bay by strict security.