Swiss police arrested a man at the weekend in connection with the security breach at the World Economic Forum (WEF) earlier this month.

The incident left the credit card and personal details of around 27,000 high-profile attendees, including Bill Gates and Bill Clinton, vulnerable to theft and misuse.

The unnamed 20-year-old suspect was arrested in Bern on charges of data theft and hacking into the computer systems housing the information for the forum in Davos. In Switzerland, such charges carry a sentence of five years in prison.

It is still not clear whether the man worked alone or as part of a hacking group. Shortly after the incident, a group calling themselves Virtual Monkeywrench claimed responsibility for the attack and sent a copy of the misappropriated information to a local newspaper. The group claimed the attack was carried out in protest, as part of an anti-globalisation campaign.

At the time, WEF confirmed that the stolen data included telephone numbers, email addresses, payment details, hotels and room numbers, and the arrival and departure times of conference delegates.