The Alert message in the Standard Client will only be displayed if it is signed with a correct ECDSA private key. Should anyone get that private key, they would be able to propagate any alert through the Bitcoin network, possibly causing some harm.
What can a person achieve with special private keys in regards to the Standard Client and anything directly related to it, and moreover, what public key / address are known to correspond to such keys? (For example, a preferable answer would be "With key X and Y one can do Z")