Just days after President Donald Trump fired the U.S. Coast Guard commandant, investigators confirmed Wednesday the military branch left computer systems and sensitive data vulnerable to foreign adversaries and hackers in a cybersecurity blunder that also left Pentagon systems dangerously exposed.

The Homeland Security inspector general reported that the Coast Guard failed to followed required cybersecurity procedures for at least three of its computer systems that transmitted data to and from the Department of Defense Information Network and that as a result national security was placed at risk.

"The three systems we reviewed, and other similarly situated systems in the Coast Guard’s enterprise, are vulnerable to cybersecurity weaknesses and exposed to un-assessed risks that could result in the unauthorized disclosure or compromise of sensitive Coast Guard information," the federal watchdog warned in a report that included redactions for security information.

"Adversaries also could leverage these cybersecurity weaknesses to compromise the DODIN, placing DoD and Coast Guard personnel, assets, and the Nation at risk," the report also reads. 

You can read the report here:

Specifically, Inspector General investigators found the Coast Guard "did not consistently implement the cybersecurity controls we reviewed to protect its systems operating on the DODIN in accordance with applicable cybersecurity requirements" by failing to:

• control logical access to privileged user accounts,
• control or monitor physical access to server rooms,
• develop contingency plans that included detailed recovery procedures or conduct annual plan reviews,
• prepare plans of action and milestones for high and critical‑severity vulnerabilities in a timely manner.

Investigators noted that three of the vulnerabilities they uncovered on Coast Guard computers had been used by foreign adversaries to exploit computer systems in the past, illustrating the risk to Pentagon servers.

"The DHS’s Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency identified that adversaries have previously exploited 3 of 30 vulnerabilities we reviewed and may be able to cause immediate damage to systems containing the vulnerabilities and increase the risk to the DODIN," it warned.

The report is the latest to highlight massive failures by federal agencies and military branches – including the Homeland Security Department's own cybersecurity protection agency – to safe guard sensitive data despite growing hacking threats from Iran, China, Russia and other adversaries.

It also comes during a sensitive period of transition inside the Coast Guard. On his second day in office, Trump fired Commandant Linda Fagan, a four-star admiral and the first woman to lead a branch of the military. His administration reportedly evicted her from her government home a few days later.

Officials said Fagan was fired over border security weaknesses and an “excessive focus” on diversity, equity and inclusion.

The inspector general report made clear the Coast Guard did not adequately focus on its cybersecurity obligations, noting Coast Guard protection policies "did not always align with DoD requirements" and that its chief information officer "continued to operate those systems and 35 other Coast Guard systems without authorizations to operate."

Security was so lax that investigators discovered that one computer server room’s automated entry control system "was not operating properly and" officials instead "issued keys for a lever door lock so that supervisors could access the server room door and disabled the magnetic lock ." The report even showed a picture of the loosely secured door.

Investigators also said they found a "critical‑severity vulnerability" on one Coast Guard computer system that required a classified warning to fix.

The Coast Guard said it agreed with most of the findings and has ordered corrective actions.