Damn, I wanted to attend but they scheduled my Wireless Village talk at 4:00, almost the same time as Chris. If anyone here attended I'd love to hear some comments.
WW > > http://news.yahoo.com/rush-put-death-records-online-lets-anyone-killed-074408319.html > Las Vegas (AFP) - Hackers at an infamous annual Def Con gathering in Las > Vegas got schooled in how to be online killers. > > > > A rush to go digital with the process of registering deaths has made it > simple for maliciously minded folks to have someone who is alive declared > dead by the authorities. > "This is a global problem," Australian computer security specialist Chris > Rock said as he launched a presentation titled "I Will Kill You." > The process of having someone officially stamped dead by getting a death > certificate issued typically involves a doctor filling out one form and a > funeral home filling out another, according to Rock's research. > Once forms are submitted online, certificates declaring the listed person > legally dead are generated. > A fatal flaw in the system is that people can easily pose as real doctors and > funeral directors, Rock demonstrated to a rapt audience. > Doctors practising general medicine often don't bother setting up accounts at > online portals for filling out information for death certificates. > An aspiring online assassin can step into that void, and borrow the identity > of a doctor. > Setting up accounts requires a doctor's name, address, and medical license > number. A basic Internet search will turn up that information, which is > publicly available for the well-intended purpose of letting people check that > physicians are legitimate before seeking care. > Drop down boxes containing illness categories and online guides are available > for filling in "doctor speak" on forms and avoiding medical causes or > circumstances that might trigger needs for autopsies or investigations, > Rock's demonstration showed. > > - No one off limits - > > Borrowing a funeral director's identity to establish an online account for > death certificate purposes was shown to be simple as well. Required > information about legitimate funeral directors is posted on the Internet, and > one could even claim to work at a funeral home. > In Rock's case, he made a website for a bogus funeral home and used that to > back his application for an account as director. He got an automated call > days later saying he was approved. > With both online accounts in place, deaths can be registered in the real > world. > "You could kill anyone you want," Rock told AFP after the presentation. "No > one is off limits." > A humor-infused list of scenarios included killing oneself off to get life > insurance cash or going after others for vengeance. > Someone targeted might not even know they were declared dead until doing > something official like trying to renew a passport or driving license. > Rock began digging into the death industry a year ago after an Australian > hospital accidentally declared 200 patients dead. > > - Virtual babies - > > Getting birth certificates for virtual babies was demonstrated to be even > easier than killing off people in the digital world, because registering > births online only involves doctors and parents. > "Once you log on as a doctor, not only can you kill someone, you can actually > birth someone," Rock said. > Given the time it takes for even a make-believe baby to grow into adulthood, > he saw that as more tempting to crime gangs who could invest in the future by > creating legions of virtual people for shady doings involving loans, stock > trading, imports or other activities. > "You could even make fake identities for your children, so when they grow up > they have burner identities," Rock said. > He dove into virtual birth and death in his book titled "The Baby Harvest: > How virtual babies become the future of terrorist financing and money > laundering." > >
