Ex-L3Harris Trenchant Executive Imprisoned for Selling Hacking Tools to Russian Broker

Peter Williams, the former manager of a U.S. defense contractor division, was sentenced to seven years in prison for selling hacking and surveillance tools to a Russian firm. Williams headed Trenchant, a division of L3Harris, which provides such tools to the U.S. and its Five Eyes allies. Williams, an Australian living in Washington, D.C., admitted to selling seven trade secrets to the Russian broker, Operation Zero. The U.S. Treasury confirmed the broker’s identity and imposed sanctions. Operation Zero is known for offering large sums for security vulnerabilities in Android, iPhone, and apps like Telegram, claiming to sell these tools only to Russia. The DOJ noted Williams’ sales could have enabled unauthorized access to millions of devices. Williams made $1.3 million in cryptocurrency from these sales. Both L3Harris and Williams’ lawyers have not commented on the case.