Assassinations? Defamation? How genetic technology could destabilize the world

Imagine this: During a special-forces raid on a terrorist stronghold, a firefight ensues, and the terrorist mastermind is shot dead in the fray. A few months later, close relatives of the raiding party’s commanding officer start disappearing one by one. On social media, the terror group declares they are exacting vengeance for their killed leader. But how would the terrorists know who to target? The officer was masked during the entire operation, and he strictly adhered to all security protocols. It later transpired the commanding officer had received a flesh wound during the raid and a few drops of blood had been left behind at the stronghold. Further investigations revealed that not only were the murder victims all related to the officer, but they also had all sent in biological samples and personal data to a popular genealogy service. Records from the genetics company showed someone had recently sent in samples matching the officer’s DNA under a false name, which made it possible for that “someone” to identify genetically matching relatives.​