They obtained confidential information on the 27,000 well-heeled participants, including Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright, according to press reports. They also unearthed credit card numbers, and perhaps passport numbers, for 1,400 people.
"There were computers all over the conference centre," said one participant, who asked not to be identified. "You could swipe your name badge, get online, communicate with others at the conference and sign up for sessions. Some of the sessions were over lunch and dinner, and required credit cards."
The participant said the hackers did not use his credit card to buy anything since the culprits were more interested in drawing attention to their antiglobalisation cause than in racking up bills. Still, he canceled his card and requested a replacement. "It was more precautionary than anything else."
It was the kind of incident that many people see as harmless, maybe even funny, especially given the prominence of many of the victims. Who wouldn't like to imagine a celebrity executive or politician trying to explain to a credit card company representative on the phone how he didn't really go on a shopping spree and buy 50 Rolex watches.
But Emily Freeman, senior vice president of Marsh, a leading global risk manager and insurance broker with headquarters in New York, takes an altogether different view. "When people think of hacking they think of 12-year-olds with multiple body piercings creating the Anna Kournikova virus, doing it for fun to make a name for themselves. But there are others who are organised and trying to commit major fraud, trying to steal for espionage purposes and stealing credit card numbers. It's not just a nuisance."
Freeman's company and others are busy trying to alert organisations nationwide about the potential havoc cyberoutlaws can wreak and urging potential customers to consider a product still in its infancy: insurance to cover an array of computer-security risks.
