Am at the famous DEF CON ® Hacking Conference. One of the presentations today is entitled, “I Will Kill You.” A skilled hacker will show how he can do so by creating a doctor’s medical document showing cause of death, how to create a funeral director record showing that your body was disposed of, how to get a death certificate, and so on.

What if someone is angry at you, and they create your “death” and you wind up, so far as the government and business world knows, dead. Just try to apply for a loan or insurance after that! Am not sure if you will still have to pay taxes though… even after you are officially, but not really, dead.

Not only would this devastate you personally, the ability to forge someone’s death will create a whole new world of nightmares for businesses and governments alike. Imagine HR implications in your own organization. Insurance, accounts receivable, the list goes on…

But, all is not lost. He will also demonstrate how to create a new birth certificate. He shows how hackers can create a whole new identity.

And, related to identity theft, the hacker asks the question: If someone steals the identity of a person who isn’t a person, is that a crime since there is no victim?

How will it affect your organization if you don’t know who is really alive or dead, and if you can’t tell if people exist or never existed in the first place?