Ex-Defense contractor exec pleads guilty to selling cyber exploits to Russia

Ex-Defense contractor exec pleads guilty to selling cyber exploits to Russia

Ex-Defense contractor exec pleads guilty to selling cyber exploits to Russia

Former US defense contractor exec Peter Williams pled guilty to stealing trade secrets and selling cyber exploits to a Russian broker, per the US DOJ.

Ex-US defense contractor Peter Williams (39) admits stealing US trade secrets and selling cyber exploits to a Russian broker.

Williams, an Australian national, pleaded guilty to stealing and selling U.S. defense trade secrets to a Russian cyber-tools broker. Over three years, he took national security software with at least eight sensitive exploit components meant only for the U.S. and allies. He sold them to a Russian broker known for reselling cyber exploits, including to the Russian government, said the DOJ.

“Williams placed greed over freedom and democracy by stealing and reselling $35 million of cyber trade secrets from a U.S. cleared defense contractor to a Russian Government supplier,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavskyof the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “By doing so, he gave Russian cyber actors an advantage in their massive campaign to victimize U.S. citizens and businesses. This plea sends a clear message that the FBI and our partners will defend the homeland and bring to justice anyone who helps our adversaries jeopardize U.S. national security.”

DoJ did not name the defense contractor, however, TechCrunchreportedthat Williams was an executive at Trenchant, a division of L3Harris.

“TechCrunch has confirmed that the Williams mentioned in the document, which does not specify where he worked, is the former general manager at Trenchant, a division of L3Harris that develops hacking and surveillance tools for Western governments, including the United States. ” reads the report publisehd by TechCrunch.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the financial gain or loss resulting from the crime.

From 2022–2025, Williams stole cyber exploit components from his defense contractor employer and sold them to a Russian broker for millions in cryptocurrency. He signed contracts for sales and support, transferring eight trade secrets via encryption. He used the profits for luxury purchases, including a house, jewelry, and expensive watches. The FBI Baltimore Field Office led the investigation.

The US seeks forfeiture of Williams’ assets, including a house, the luxury items, and $1.3M in crypto and bank accounts, proceeds from his criminal activity.

TechCrunch reported that Trenchant investigated a hacking tool leak. A former iOS developer was wrongly accused of leaking Chrome exploits, as access is platform-specific. Sources confirmed the misaccusation. It’s unclear if this links to Williams’ federal case.

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PierluigiPaganini

(SecurityAffairs–hacking,Defense contractor)

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