Peter Williams, former CEO of defense contractor L3Harris, pleaded guilty to selling surveillance technology to a Russian broker who buys “cyber tools,” the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Wednesday.
“The material, stolen over a three-year period from the US defense contractor where he worked, was comprised of national security-focused software that included at least eight components that were sensitive and protected against cyber exploitation,” reads the Justice Department press release, shared with TechCrunch on Wednesday. “Those components were intended to be sold exclusively to the United States government and select allies.”
TechCrunch previously reported exclusively, citing four former Trenchant employees, that the company was investigating a leak of its hacking tools. Prosecutors now say Williams took advantage of his access to the company’s “secure network” to steal the components of the cyberattack.
Williams ran Trenchant, the division of L3Harris that develops spyware, exploits and zero-days: security vulnerabilities in software that are unknown to its manufacturer. Trenchant sells its surveillance technology to government clients 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 StartupsAzimuth and Linchpin Labs, which developed and sold zero-days to the Five Eyes alliance of countries.
The Justice Department said Williams, a 39-year-old Australian citizen residing in Washington, D.C., sold exploits to the unnamed Russian broker, who promised Williams millions of dollars in cryptocurrency in exchange. Trenchant’s former general manager allegedly signed contracts with the broker that stipulated an upfront payment for exploits and periodic payments “for subsequent support.”
Prosecutors did not name the Russian broker Williams sold to, but said the broker advertises publicly as a reseller of exploits for various clients, including the Russian government.
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Federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro said Wednesday that the broker to whom Williams sold his exploits is part of “the next wave of international arms traffickers.” Pirro said Williams’ crimes caused more than $35 million in losses to Trenchant.
“Williams betrayed the United States and his employer by first stealing and then selling intelligence-related software,” said US Assistant Attorney General for Homeland Security John A. Eisenberg. “His conduct was deliberate and deceptive, endangering our national security for his personal gain.”
L3Harris spokesperson Sara Banda declined to comment when contacted by TechCrunch on Wednesday.
Williams’ attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Oct. 14, the U.S. government accused Williams, known in the industry as “Doogie,” of selling trade secrets to a buyer in Russia, without specifying what those trade secrets were or from which company he stole them. According to a document filed in mid-October, Williams earned $1.3 million from the sale of the exploits.
Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of trade secrets, each of which can carry a sentence of 10 years in prison. He will be sentenced in January 2026, prosecutors said.
According Patrick Gray, Risky Business presenter and journalistWilliams is currently under house arrest in the Washington DC area where he lives. Gray said Williams used to work at the Australian Signals Directorate, the country’s main signals intelligence and eavesdropping agency.
When previously contacted by TechCrunch, an ASD spokesperson declined to comment on Williams, citing a police matter.
Last week, TechCrunch reported that Williams had fired a Trenchant developer earlier this year suspected of stealing Chrome zero-days. The former Trenchant employee told TechCrunch that he never had access to those tools while working on iOS zero-day development. Others of his former colleagues supported his story.
“I know I was a scapegoat. I wasn’t guilty. It’s very simple,” Gibson said. “I did absolutely nothing but work hard for them.”
