Intruders, possibly hacktivists, compromised a computer network of the World Economic Forum and obtained credit card details from a number of its attendees during its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Reuters reports.

The Swiss paper SonntagsZeitung was contacted by computer enthusiasts who sent it the data, which might have been stored on computers at the Forum's reception centre in Davos.

The Forum draws politicians, civil servants and business tycoons from throughout the world. This year's participants included such global luminaries as Bill Gates, Yasser Arafat and Yoshiro Mori, the wire service notes.

Aggressive security measures had blocked protestors from disturbing the serenity of the Forum's high-minded rituals, though the electronic attack may have been a virtual end-run around the authorities giving the protestors the last laugh. ®