Peter Williams, the former general manager at defense contractor L3Harris, has pleaded guilty to selling surveillance technology to a Russian broker that buys “cyber tools,” the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Wednesday.
“The material, stolen over a three-year period from the U.S. defense contractor where he worked, was comprised of national-security focused software that included at least eight sensitive and protected cyber-exploit components,” read the DOJ’s press release on Wednesday. “Those components were meant to be sold exclusively to the U.S. government and select allies.”
TechCrunch previously exclusively reported, citing four former Trenchant employees, that the company was investigating a leak of its hacking tools. Prosecutors now say Williams exploited his access to the company’s “secure network to steal the cyber exploit components.”
Williams headed Trenchant, the division at L3Harris that develops spyware, exploits, and zero-days — security vulnerabilities in software that are unknown to its maker. Trenchant sells its surveillance tech to government customers in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom, the so-called Five Eyes intelligence alliance. Trenchant was founded after L3Harris in 2019 acquired two Australian sister startups, Azimuth and Linchpin Labs, which developed and sold zero-days to the Five Eyes alliance of countries.
The DOJ said Williams, a 39-year-old Australian citizen who resides in Washington, D.C., sold exploits to the unnamed Russian broker, who promised Williams millions of dollars in cryptocurrency in exchange. The former Trenchant general manager allegedly signed contracts with the broker that stipulated an initial payment for the exploits, and periodic payments “for follow-on” support.
Prosecutors did not name the Russian broker Williams sold to, but said that the broker publicly bills itself as a reseller of exploits to several customers, including the Russian government.
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Do you have more information about this case, and the alleged leak of Trenchant hacking tools? From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or by email.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Wednesday that the broker whom Williams sold exploits to is part of “the next wave of international arms dealers.” Pir …