:: Deepquest ::

When a young Swiss hacker and an Interpol agent met in the Vatican on Friday, they understandably differed on many issues. They did, however, coincide in a recommendation for Catholic individuals and officials: Exercise common sense and caution when connected to the Net.
Their meeting occurred in the context of a four-day conference that ended Sunday in the Vatican. It was promoted by the Commission for the Media of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE).

Dimitrios Angelopoulos was the Interpol official. He directs the office for cybernetic crime in Europe, Africa and the Middle East in Interpol’s general secretariat. The 17-year-old hacker, for obvious reasons, remains nameless, though he was introduced to the meeting participants as Little Brother Bruno.

Wearing a black T-shirt with the words “Quelle connerie la guerre” (War — What Stupidity), the young hacker was responding to an invitation from the European bishops to help them penetrate the mentality of those young people for whom computer science becomes a means to claim freedom of information, at times ending up in criminal activity. Little Brother Bruno himself has had some run-ins with the law.

Next to him, and listening to him talk, was the unsmiling Greek agent Angelopoulos, who with his intervention confirmed the many dangers that Internet surfers face today, in particular if they are priests or bishops, or directors of Catholic sites.

After the meeting, ZENIT asked Angelopoulos which groups are most interested in attacking the Vatican. He interrupted before the question was finished to clarify: “The Vatican isn’t the only objective. The objective can be any Catholic site, including the computer of a monastery or a priest connected to the Internet.”

The agent explained that it would be very easy for him to penetrate the computer of a remote parish priest in Poland and discover confidential information or information that can be manipulated by those who wish to attack the Church.

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