Officials Abused Access to Jackson Records, Report Says

With the death of Michael Jackson now being investigated as a potential homicide, a number of cyber "walls" have been erected to keep the new online records confidential.

However, coroner investigations now report that several vulnerabilities exist in the two computer systems where the death investigation reports of Jackson are currently stored.

An Inside Job

The problem is much more serious than the potential for a hacker to access these restricted files from a remote location.

Rather, employees are being given unauthorized access to these secretive reports despite being told that this practice was forbidden. Employees with the proper state-issued passwords are to pursue the files only when fulfilling their official duties.

It is estimated that at least six different staff members at the Los Angeles County Coroner Department improperly viewed the Jackson death certificate hundreds of times in the two week span following his recent death. These same reports claim that some employees were even known to have been printing off copies of the death certificate before it had become a public record. (Source: networkworld.com)

Higher Ups Accused of Abusing Power

It is disturbing to think that someone would abuse their power at the expense of getting lost in all of the media hype surrounding the pop star's passing. What's more disturbing is the fact that those who were abusing their power are believed to be people who hold the rank of at least a police captain (or higher), since the investigation reports were to be accessible only by these people of distinction.

Because of the high-profile nature of the investigation, even the official hard copy of the death certificate has been stored under lock and key.

Celebrity Records Too Tempting

This is not the first time someone has gained illegal access to confidential celebrity records. A few weeks ago, a former employee at the U.S. Department of State received one year probation after snooping around passport records belonging to more than 50 high-profile people. (Source: infoworld.com)

In another incident earlier this year, a Los Angeles hospital was forced to fire 15 employees after each one accessed the personal medical records of Nadya Suleman (The Octo-Mom) without consent.

While the act of accessing the Michael Jackson death investigation reports is improper, formal charges have yet to be filed, since no actual laws were broken -- only internal rules and regulations.