An Australian national was sentenced to 87 months in a US prison for stealing trade secrets from a defense contractor and selling them to a Russian cyber-exploit broker.
According to documents presented in court, between April 2022 and June 2025, Peter Williams, 39, stole at least eight cyber exploits from his employer.
The exploits, described as components of software associated with national security, were sold to a Russian broker that provides cyber tools to the Russian government and other customers.
In October 2025, Williams pleaded guilty to stealing the exploits and to entering into multiple written contracts with the broker.
He admitted to receiving payments in cryptocurrency for the trade secrets and to using the proceeds to buy luxury clothing, jewelry, watches, properties, and vacations. He also admitted to transferring the stolen exploits to the broker via encrypted means.
Williams’ actions caused $35 million in losses to the defense contractor and impacted the company’s customers, including the US government and allied governments.
Documents presented in court suggest that Williams sold the exploits to Operation Zero, a Russian zero-day acquisition company offering tens of millions for Android and iOS exploits.
While the defense contractor has not been named, Williams was an executive at Trenchant, a division of L3Harris. He reportedly blamed a Trenchant developer working on iOS exploits for leaking Chrome exploits and fired him.
In addition to the 87-month prison term, Williams was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $1.3 million in cryptocurrency and property, including a house, watches, and jewelry.
“Peter Williams stole a U.S. defense contractor’s trade secrets about highly sensitive cyber capabilities and sold them to a broker whose clients include the Russian government, putting our national security and countless potential victims at risk,” said FBI Counterintelligence Division assistant director Roman Rozhavsky.
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