Charles McLean, the forum’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs told Reuters, "We do take this very seriously, and we are going to be investigating this aggressively." Although he did not have any idea how the confidential information got out, it is being treated as a crime.
McLean confirmed the report in the Swiss newspaper was true but did not speculate whether the hackers might be anti-globalisation protesters.
In recent years, the WEF has been increasingly targeted by protesters who, despite being kept out of the Swiss town of Davos by police, staged the World Social Forum counter-event in Brazil at the same time.