Category Archives: Failed foreign policy

Truck Hijacked in Mexico, Visas Stolen

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Sheesh, can it get worse?

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Embassy in Mexico says a truck carrying visas was hijacked in northern Mexico and the visas stolen.

The embassy says in a statement Wednesday that the theft occurred on June 7 “in northern Mexico,” without specifying where.

The truck was making a trip from the United States to U.S. Consulates in the cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara.

Some approved border crossing cards also were stolen. An electronic alert has been issued so that the stolen cards cannot be used to cross the border.

The cards were re-issued for the intended holders, but they have also been advised of the robbery in case the cards are used in attempts at identity theft.

***

The Vice Admiral of the Coast Guard delivered testimony on drug interdiction on the waterways. In part:

Emerging Threats: Transnational Organized Crime, Violence, and Instability
One of the goals of the Coast Guard’s drug interdiction program is to interdict illicit traffic as close to the source zone1 as possible. This helps to keep the drugs from reaching the shores of Central America where it is transported over land into Mexico, and then to the United States, where the proceeds from the sale of drugs fuel TOC networks. These nefarious organizations operate with impunity throughout Central America while vying for power through drug-fueled violence and corruption of government officials; in fact, eight out of the ten most violent nations in the world are along these trafficking routes in the Western Hemisphere. Traffickers have also increasingly moved product through the Central and Eastern Caribbean vector. Corresponding with this movement, the homicide rate in Puerto Rico is five times that of the rest of the United States. Drug trafficking has destabilized regional states, undermined the rule of law, terrorized citizens, and driven both families and unaccompanied children to migrate to the United States. To be clear, the flow of illicit drugs funds TOC networks which pose a significant and growing threat to national and international security.

Then Border Patrol has their terrifying summary. Yes, it can get worse and Border Patrol is telling the media just how bad it is, but who is really listening, who will address the issues and how is this breaking national security policy? The clarion call is being made, but is there a busy signal?

From the LA Times in full:

Rank-and-file Border Patrol agents are furious that they have lost some of their favorite enforcement tools and say that intense public criticism of border shootings has led to a morale crisis.

“We lack the political will to enforce the law and allow our agency to be effective,” said National Border Patrol Council spokesman Shawn Moran in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. The call was coordinated by the union that represents the agents.

Among the most far-reaching and damning accusations from agents working entry points in Arizona, Texas and California was that the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol administration in Washington does not want agents to make drug busts and has taken away their ability to do so.

Shane Gallagher, an agent in the San Diego sector, said roving interdiction patrols — in which agents would stop suspicious vehicles north of the border — were extraordinarily successful at nabbing border crossers with drugs. But those patrols would then create uncomfortable questions for the ports through which the vehicles had just passed, he said.

“Now the port of entry has to explain who was in the primary lane, what actions were taken, if the vehicle was inspected, so you can see there’s a whole host of implications,” he said.

Though rank-and-file agents saw the value in drug interdictions, Gallagher said, agency leadership did not and drastically reduced the number of agents doing such work.

“There was a lot of pressure for us to get out of the [drug] interdiction game,” Gallagher said.

The decision to speak with reporters comes as rank-and-file agents have come under intense criticism for their involvement in fatal cross-border shootings – including the slaying of a 15-year-old boy who was walking home from a basketball game in Nogales, Mexico, when he was hit by a bullet fired by an agent on the Arizona side of the border.

According to records released last month, only 13 out of 809 abuse complaints sent to Customs and Border Protection’s office of internal affairs between January 2009 and January 2012 led to disciplinary action, and last week, the agency’s head of internal affairs was removed from his post.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesman declined to comment Wednesday when reached by the Los Angeles Times.

The agency also handcuffed agents by instituting civil liberties protections for potential targets of investigations at public transit stations or on agricultural land, colloquially known as a “farm and ranch check,” Moran said.

For such checks, Moran said, agents are required to create an “operations plan” and be able to show supervisors some kind of intelligence that connects targets of investigations to potential criminal activity. No longer, he said, can Border Patrol agents simply question random people.

Amid a flood of women and children turning themselves in at the border, agents also criticized administration directives to lend help to neighboring agencies.

The Border Patrol “grew but other agencies didn’t grow,” said Tucson sector Agent Art Del Cueto. “They’ve been butchering our agency to assist other agencies.”

According to Agent Chris Cabrera of the Rio Grande Valley sector in southern Texas, in one hour last week, 80 people, mostly women and children, turned themselves in to the Border Patrol in the Rincon Village area of his sector.

Overall, the agency finds itself holding 500 people in the Rio Grande Valley sector each day, he said, down from 700 people each day last year, when a flood of women and children from Central America overwhelmed the U.S. immigration sector.

Typically, one or two agents are stationed near Rincon Village to get people into a shelter and check them for weapons. Those agents can handle 10 or 15 people at once, Cabrera said. But when scores arrive, the agency must call on other agents to respond.

“You’re leaving large swaths of the area unprotected,” Cabrera said. “You take a few agents from the field, then you take a few more, and before you know it, you’re down to five agents covering a 53-mile stretch of river.”

Agents criticized the Border Patrol as top-heavy, with a ratio of four or five agents per each supervisor, a ratio that the agents said should be closer to 10 agents per supervisor.

Cabrera said the issue isn’t a lack of resources, but the way in which they’re used.

“We do not have what we need,” he said, “to do the job we need done.”

Obama has Synchronized Iran’s Nuclear Program

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Consider the stated position of the Supreme leader of Iran:

Reuters and AFP – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has stated his country’s red lines for a nuclear deal with six world powers.

“Freezing Iran’s research and development for a long time like 10 or 12 years is not acceptable,” Khamenei said in a speech broadcast live on June 23.

Khamenei, who has the final say for Iran on any deal, added that all financial and economic sanctions “should be lifted immediately” if an agreement is signed.

Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia, and the United States want Tehran to commit to a verifiable halt of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear development work as part of a deal they aim to reach by a June 30 deadline. In exchange, they are offering relief from economic sanctions.

Khamenei reiterated that Iran would not give international inspectors access to its military sites and accused the United States of wanting to destroy Iran’s nuclear industry.

The six powers want limits on Tehran’s programs that could have a military use.

Tehran denies it is pursuing nuclear weapons.

***

When the NYT finally prints an explosive fantasy piece on what the White House and John Kerry at the State Department are doing with Iran, one needs to take notice. The New York Times calls this Iran agreement a ‘fatal flaw’.

The Iran Deal’s Fatal Flaw

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S main pitch for the pending nuclear deal with Iran is that it would extend the “breakout time” necessary for Iran to produce enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon. In a recent interview with NPR, he said that the current breakout time is “about two to three months by our intelligence estimates.” By contrast, he claimed, the pending deal would shrink Iran’s nuclear program, so that if Iran later “decided to break the deal, kick out all the inspectors, break the seals and go for a bomb, we’d have over a year to respond.”

Unfortunately, that claim is false, as can be demonstrated with basic science and math.  Most important, in the event of an overt attempt by Iran to build a bomb, Mr. Obama’s argument assumes that Iran would employ only the 5,060 centrifuges that the deal would allow for uranium enrichment, not the roughly 14,000 additional centrifuges that Iran would be permitted to keep mainly for spare parts. Such an assumption is laughable. In a real-world breakout, Iran would race, not crawl, to the bomb.  Iran stands to gain enormously. The deal would lift nuclear-related sanctions, thereby infusing Iran’s economy with billions of dollars annually. In addition, the deal could release frozen Iranian assets, reportedly giving Tehran a $30 billion to $50 billion “signing bonus.”

Showering Iran with rewards for making illusory concessions poses grave risks. It would entrench the ruling mullahs, who could claim credit for Iran’s economic resurgence. The extra resources would also enable Iran to amplify the havoc it is fostering in neighboring countries like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Worst of all, lifting sanctions would facilitate a huge expansion of Iran’s nuclear program. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, says that he wants 190,000 centrifuges eventually, or 10 times the current amount, as would appear to be permissible under the deal after just 10 years. Such enormous enrichment capacity would shrink the breakout time to mere days, so that Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a bomb before we even knew it was trying — thus eliminating any hope of our taking preventive action.

Nothing in the pending deal is worth such risks. Read the full article in context here.

*** But is getting worse as new documents demonstrate.

Reported by Fox News via Associated Press:

The United States and its allies are willing to offer Iran state-of-the-art nuclear equipment if Tehran agrees to pare down its atomic weapons program as part of a final nuclear agreement, a draft document has revealed.

The confidential paper, obtained by the Associated Press, has dozens of bracketed text where disagreements remain. Technical cooperation is the least controversial issue at the talks, and the number of brackets suggest the sides have a ways to go, not only on that topic but also more contentious disputes, with less than a week until the June 30 deadline for a deal.

However, the scope of the help now being offered in the draft may displease U.S. congressional critics who already argue that Washington has offered too many concessions at the negotiations.

The draft, titled “Civil Nuclear Cooperation,” promises to supply Iran with light-water nuclear reactors instead of its nearly completed heavy-water facility at Arak, which would produce enough plutonium for several bombs a year if completed as planned. The full details are here.

Civil Nuclear Cooperation platform is not new.

Chilling are the following facts:

Russia and Saudi Arabia have signed a nuclear cooperation agreement. The U.S. has done the same with Korea. Then comes Pakistan learning from U.S. and India where pacts could lead to even more proliferation globally.

For a more detailed summary of the Nuclear Cooperation agreements, take a look at a surface review on equipment, supply and banks in the matter of Korea.

 

Illegal Immigrants, the DOJ Protected Class

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Just the facts as reported to Fox News:

‘Not only are illegal immigrant women and children continuing to cross the border in large numbers, but the majority charged with crimes aren’t even showing up for court.

“That strategy is obviously a complete failure because such a high percentage of these people who were not detained have simply melted into the larger illegal population and have no fear of immigration enforcement,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies.

Statistics released by the Department of Justice Executive Office of Immigration Review show 84 percent of those adults with children who were allowed to remain free pending trial absconded, and fewer than 4 percent deported themselves voluntarily.

Since then, ICE detained 83,385 adults and children, and immigration courts completed 24,842 cases. Of those, more than 64 percent, or 16,136, didn’t show up for court, and fewer than 4 percent, or 908, agreed to leave voluntarily.

Among adults with children not detained, 25,000 have had their initial appearance; 13,000 are still in the system, and 12,000 have had their cases completed. Of the cases completed, 10,000 failed to appear.’

Yes…there is more.

We have this 2011 memo, rather edict from the Department of Homeland Security stating the new guidance for ‘failure to appear’ is not a reason for continued detention or prosecution.

Then there is the November 2014 memo, stating that Secure Communities program has been terminated due to complaints by local legislative bodies, governors and mayors and this will take its place:

‘Accordingly, I am directing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to discontinue Secure Communities. ICE should put in its place a program that will continue to rely on fingerprint-based biometric data submitted during bookings by state and local law enforcement agencies to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for criminal background checks. However, ICE should only seek the transfer of an alien in the custody of state or local law enforcement through the new program when the alien has been convicted of an offense listed in Priority 1 (a), (c), (d), and (e) and Priority 2 (a) and

(b) of the November 20, 2014 Policies for the Apprehension, Detention and Removal of Undocumented Immigrants Memorandum, or when, in the judgment of an ICE Field Office Director, the alien otherwise poses a danger to national security. In other words, unless the alien poses a demonstrable risk to national security, enforcement actions through the new program will only be taken against aliens who are convicted of specifically enumerated crimes.’ The full memo is here.

So, when it comes to a protected class, there are countless free programs full of advise on how to take advantage of the system and benefits.

 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States. USCIS will secure America’s promise as a nation of immigrants by providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system. www.uscis.gov

USCIS Asylum Program resources include an information guide for prospective asylum applicants available in a number of languages, “How Do I” Guides for Refugees and Asylees, and the Asylum Officer Basic Training Course Lesson Plan. For more information, visit www.uscis.gov/asylum.

E-Verify is an Internet-based system that allows an employer, using information reported on an employee’s Form I-9, to determine the eligibility of an employee to work in the United States. For most employers, the use of E-Verify is voluntary and limited to determining the employment eligibility of new hires only. There is no charge to employers to use E-Verify. Available resources include searchable web pages, demonstration videos, guides on employee rights and employer responsibilities, fact sheets, weekly webinars, an overview presentation, brochures and posters for employers and employees. USCIS also has speakers and trainers available to give live presentations at conferences and meetings across the country. See http://www.dhs.gov/everify. Contact [email protected], (888) 464-4218 with any questions or comments.

Civics and Citizenship Toolkit – A Collection of Educational Resources for Immigrants contains a variety of educational materials designed to help permanent residents learn more about the U.S. and prepare for the naturalization process. For more information, visit http://www.citizenshiptoolkit.gov.

Expanding ESL, Civics, and Citizenship Education in Your Community: A Start-Up Guide provides an overview and recommendations to help organizations design and offer ESL and civics/citizenship classes for immigrants. See http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Office%20of%20Citizenship/Citizenship%20Resource%20Center%20Site/Publications/PDFs/M-677.pdf.

Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is a form that U.S. employers and their new hires have been required to complete since November 6, 1986. Completion of the form shows that the employer has examined documentation from each newly hired employee to verify his or her identify and eligibility to work in the U.S. Available resources include a Form I-9 web page, the M-274, Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing Form I-9, and the How Do I Complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification? (M-584) brochure. See http://www.uscis.gov. Call (888) 464-4218 with any questions or comments.

USCIS Genealogy Program is a fee-for-service program providing family historians and other researchers with timely access to historical immigration and naturalization records. The USCIS Genealogy Program offers two services: Index Search using biographical information provided by the researcher and a Record Copy Request where researchers with valid record citations (USCIS file numbers), gained through a USCIS Genealogy Program index search or through independent research, may request copies of historical immigration and naturalization records. Questions about the USCIS Genealogy Program may be sent to [email protected]. For more information, see http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=d21f3711ca5ca110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=d21f3711ca5ca110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD.

Guide to Naturalization contains information about the naturalization process, laws and regulations. See http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf.

If You Have the Right to Work, Don’t Let Anyone Take it Away Poster is a poster with Department of Justice information regarding discrimination in the workplace. See http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/e-verify-swa-right-to-work.pdf.

USCIS Citizenship Resource Center USCIS officially launched the Citizenship Resource Center – a Web-based portal that centralizes citizenship resources for immigrants, educators and organizations. This free, easy-to-use website will help users understand the naturalization process and gain the necessary skills to be successful during the naturalization interview and test. To visit the Citizenship Resource Center, see http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship.

USCIS Information for Employers and Employees on the employment authorization verification process and the immigration petition process. See http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=ff1d83453d4a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=ff1d83453d4a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD. For more information contact [email protected].

USCIS Information for Prospective Adoptive Parents provides information about adopting a child from overseas and the process by which to do so, dependent on the country chosen to adopt from. See http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=8d5e901bf9873210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=8d5e901bf9873210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

See all 3 pages here. In summary, if foreign policy was effective, no country would have a fleeing class of people from a failed state. There are many to blame of this one.

 

Hillary’s Plan for Post Qaddafi Libya

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Libya and Hillary’s team investment operation in post Qaddafi Libya

 

When Ambassador Cretz was expelled from Libya, he was later assigned to Ghana. As of this week, he is out of Ghana, allegedly retiring. I would suggest he is in the belly of the beast with the Hillary team, but I can’t prove anything other than a gut feeling.

 

The Blumenthal and Clinton emails explain that Qaddafi’s demise was imminent so the financial investment opportunities in the pipeline for Libya were about to gain traction that included Qatar, where Hillary fully collaborated with the dynasty there. 

 

Last month, I authored a piece on the little known agenda Hillary, Blumenthal and Drumheller along with the Qataris were working on, where Tripoli and Benghazi were to be the new Middle East version of New York’s 5th Avenue.

     

Before Qaddafi and just after Qaddafi, note there was a luxury project underway. The Libyan-Qatari Company declared recently the laying of the foundation stone of “The Waterfront” project, for the construction of a luxurious residential complex and resort near Tripoli, expected to be completed by the end of 2012.

Many interesting details are noted here.

 Pay to Play…literally…

This poses another question to bubble to the surface when the matter of Bill Clinton, the Foundation, Qatar and FIFA all come into the same sentence.

 

 

In 2014, more came to light when one pays attention to foreign press releases that speaks about the future of Libya at the hands of Qatar and other European investors.

 

Qatar in Libya, 2011-present

 

Qatar’s bold support for the 2011 Libyan revolution was a striking example of the small state’s assertiveness in the external realm. One of the most symbolic moments of this support came when rebels in Libya overran Qadhafi’s Tripoli headquarters in August 2011 and briefly raised the maroon and white Qatari flag over the compound. That day, Mahmoud Jibril, the head of Libya’s provisional governing authority, the National Transitional Council (NTC), publically thanked Qatar for its support of the Libyan revolution.

 

While Qatar’s role in Libya was critical in backing the revolution, the emirate had also dealt with the Qadhafi regime prior to 2011. Indeed, Qatari investments in Libya amounted to USD 10 billion before the start of the civil war. During that time, Qatari companies won construction contracts for the development of residential and entertainment complexes in and around Tripoli based on a joint venture between the Libyan Economic and Social Development Fund and the Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, a branch of the state-run Qatar Investment Authority.

 

Apparently seeing the inevitable demise of Qadhafi, in March 2011, Qatar nevertheless helped to rally support within the Arab League for the UN Security Council resolutions authorizing NATO intervention in Libya. It was the first Arab state to recognize the National Transition Council (NTC).viii Qatar went so far as to participate in the air war with its own military aircraft (six Mirage fighter jets), and elite Qatari troops participated in the liberation of Tripoli. By the end of the conflict, Qatar had contributed USD 400 million to the rebels (including an estimated twenty thousand tons of Qatari weapons and equipment), trained fighters, set up a TV station in Doha, helped Libya keep its oil exports flowing, and provided political and organizational support, especially to militias aligned with its vision and interests.

 Doing Business with Middle East Operations Blocked by Treasury

What is very interesting is in November of 2011, several of the investment groups were removed from the Treasury Department’s special designation list of Foreign Assets Control and one in particular was the Libyan Economic and Social Development Fund.

 

Then enter more on Qatar. Now there is a Tourism company in Libya?  The Qatar Diar a worldwide real estate developer has grand real estate operations.

 

What is planned now for Libya after the Arab Spring?   Back to the European investors and the collusion with Qatar. Then Rachel Ehrenfeld wrote a very good time line using names attached to the Foundation.

 

So how did or does this all work out? Not so well when ISIS has a growing footprint in Libya. Summary from The Fuse:

 ISIS in Libya map

 

 

 

 

Cyber Conflict, Chaos and Calamity

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There have been several Congressional hearings on cyber-terrorism, yet with such an emergency and threat, no solution is forthcoming.

From AEI: “America’s intelligence leaders have made clear the biggest threat today is cyber and counterintelligence. Who are the largest perpetrators of these types of attacks? The intelligence report singles out Russia and China as first examples. These nations have “highly sophisticated cyber programs” and are regularly conducting “politically motivated” attacks. What are they up to exactly? Countries such as China are “reconnoitering and developing access to US critical infrastructure systems, which might be quickly exploited for disruption if an adversary’s intent became hostile.” Back in 2013, Verizon released a report detailing Chinese hackers lurking around inside American industrial control systems—the cyber equivalent to casing a robbery target. In 2014 alone, the FBI investigated a likely Russian hacking campaign against American banking backbone JP Morgan, while two cybersecurity firms blamed Iran for a major campaign against US critical infrastructure like major airliners, medical universities, and energy companies. As the year ended, the US government publicly accused North Korea of a devastating cyberattack against Sony.”

When of Office of National Intelligence produced a report, the first chapter is on cyber threats.

“Risk. Despite ever-improving network defenses, the diverse possibilities for remote hacking intrusions, supply chain operations to insert compromised hardware or software, and malevolent activities by human insiders will hold nearly all ICT systems at risk for years to come. In short, the cyber threat cannot be eliminated; rather, cyber risk must be managed. Moreover, the risk calculus employed by some private sector entities does not adequately account for foreign cyber threats or the systemic interdependencies between different critical infrastructure sectors.

Costs. During 2014, we saw an increase in the scale and scope of reporting on malevolent cyber activity that can be measured by the amount of corporate data stolen or deleted, personally identifiable information (PII) compromised, or remediation costs incurred by US victims. “

The stakes are higher than anyone will admit, most of all the White House. The Office of Personnel Management hack of personnel files now appears to exceed 18 million individuals. “FBI Director James Comey gave the 18 million estimate in a closed-door briefing to Senators in recent weeks, using the OPM’s own internal data, according to U.S. officials briefed on the matter. Those affected could include people who applied for government jobs, but never actually ended up working for the government.”

Just announced as a possible additional agency falling victim to hacking is the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). What is chilling about this probability is all government reports, records and communications are by law to be maintained by NARA., even classified material.

EXCLUSIVE: Signs of OPM Hack Turn Up at Another Federal Agency

The National Archives and Records Administration recently detected unauthorized activity on three desktops indicative of the same hack that extracted sensitive details on millions of current and former federal employees, government officials said Monday. The revelation suggests the breadth of one of the most damaging cyber assaults known is wider than officials have disclosed.

The National Archives’ own intrusion-prevention technology successfully spotted the so-called indicators of compromise during a scan this spring, said a source involved in the investigation, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident. The discovery was made soon after the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team published signs of the wider attack — which targeted the Office of Personnel Management — to look for at agencies, according to NARA.

It is unclear when NARA computers were breached. Suspected Chinese-sponsored cyberspies reportedly had been inside OPM’s networks for a year before the agency discovered what happened in April. Subsequently, the government uncovered a related attack against OPM that mined biographical information on individuals who have filed background investigation forms to access classified secrets.

The National Archives has found no evidence intruders obtained “administrative access,” or took control, of systems, but files were found in places they did not belong, the investigator said.

NARA “systems” and “applications” were not compromised, National Archives spokeswoman Laura Diachenko emphasized to Nextgov,  “but we detected IOCs,” indicators of compromise, “on three workstations, which were cleaned and re-imaged,” or reinstalled.

“Other files found seemed to be legitimate,” such as those from a Microsoft website, she said. “We have requested further guidance from US-CERT on how to deal with these” and are still awaiting guidance on how to proceed.

It will take additional forensics assessments to determine whether attackers ever “owned” the National Archives computers, the investigator said.

Diachenko said, “Continued analysis with our monitoring and forensic tools has not detected any activity associated with a hack,” including alerts from the latest version of a governmentwide network-monitoring tool called EINSTEIN 3A.

EINSTEIN, like NARA’s own intrusion-prevention tool, is now configured to detect the tell-tale signs of the OPM attack.

“OPM isn’t the only agency getting probed by this group,” said John Prisco, president of security provider Triumphant, the company that developed the National Archives’ tool. “It could be happening in lots of other agencies.”

Prisco said he learned of the incident at a security industry conference June 9, from an agency official the company has worked with for years.

“They told us that they were really happy because we stopped the OPM attack in their agency,” Prisco said.

The malicious operation tries to open up ports to the Internet, so it can excise information, Prisco said.

“It’s doing exploration work laterally throughout the network and then it’s looking for a way to communicate what it finds back to its server,” he added.

Homeland Security officials on Monday would not confirm or deny the situation at the National Archives. DHS spokesman S.Y. Lee referred to the department’s earlier statement about the OPM hack: “DHS has shared information regarding the potential incident with all federal chief information officers to ensure that all agencies have the knowledge they need to defend against this cybersecurity incident.”

The assault on OPM represents the seventh raid on national security-sensitive or federal personnel information over the past year.

Well-funded hackers penetrated systems at the State Department, the White House, U.S. Postal Service and, previously in March 2014, OPM. Intruders also broke into networks twice at KeyPoint Government Solutions, an OPM background check provider, and once at USIS, which conducted most of OPM’s employee investigations until last summer.

On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the OPM incident that, among other things, will examine the possibility that hackers got into the agency’s systems by using details taken from the contractors.