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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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.” Pirro said Williams’ crimes caused over $35 million in losses to Trenchant.
“Williams betrayed the United States and his employer by first stealing and then selling intelligence-related software,” said U.S. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “His conduct was deliberate and deceitful, imperiling our national security for the sake of personal gain.”
L3Harris spokesperson Sara Banda declined to comment when reached by TechCrunch on Wednesday.
Attorneys for Williams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On October 14, the U.S. government accused Williams, who is known in the industry as “Doogie,” of selling trade secrets to a buyer in Russia, without specifying what those trade secrets were nor what company he stole them from. According to a document filed in mid-October, Williams made $1.3 million for the sale of the exploits.
Williams pleaded guilty to two charges of stealing trade secrets, which each can carry a sentence of 10 years in prison. He will be sentenced in January 2026, prosecutors said.
According to Risky Business host and journalist Patrick Gray, Williams is currently under house arrest in the Washington D.C. area where he lives. Gray said Williams used to work at the Australian Signals Directorate, the country’s top signals intelligence and eavesdropping agency.
When previously reached by TechCrunch, a spokesperson for the ASD would not comment on Williams, citing a law enforcement matter.
Last week, TechCrunch reported that Williams had fired a Trenchant developer earlier this year, who was suspected of stealing Chrome zero-days. The former Trenchant employee told TechCrunch that he never had access to those tools, as he worked on developing iOS zero-days. Other of his former colleagues supported his account.
“I know I was a scapegoat. I wasn’t guilty. It’s very simple,” the exploit developer told TechCrunch. “I didn’t do absolutely anything other than working my ass off for them.”
