The United States Department of Justice said Peter Williams, an Australian who worked as the general manager for a division of US defence contractor L3Harris, has pleaded guilty to theft of trade secrets and selling cyber exploits to a Russian broker.
Williams, 39, admitted to stealing “national security focused software that included at least eight sensitive and protected cyber exploit components,” the DoJ said.
These were meant to be sold only to the US government, and to select allies, the DoJ added.
The select allies are the US partners in the Five-Eyes alliance, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
US assistant attorney-general for national security John Eisenberg said that Williams betrayed the United States and his employer by first stealing and then selling intelligence-related software to a foreign broker that touted its ties to Russia and other foreign governments.
“His conduct was deliberate and deceitful, imperiling our national security for the sake of personal gain,” Eisenberg added.
Williams was the general manager of L3Harris spyware development division Trenchant, which was formed out the US defence contractor buying Australian security firms Azimuth and Linchpin Labs in 2018.
Australian cyber security publication Risky.biz reported that Williams is a former Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) staffer.
Earlier this month, TechCrunch reported that an L3Harris Trenchant developer was fired by Williams on suspicion of leaking Google Chrome web browser vulnerabilities.
The developer said he did not have access to these, as he was working on Apple iOS zero-days and spyware at Trenchant, and was scapegoated and fired.
According to the DoJ, Williams sold exploits to a broker, whose customers included the Russian government, since 2022, in exchange for the promise of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Court documents obtained by TechCrunch state that Williams made US$1.3 million ($2 million) from selling the exploits, money that the US is seeking forfeiture on.
The US also applied to seize Williams’ house in Washington DC, a large collection of expensive watches, and other luxury items.
Williams now faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment for each of the two charges he pleaded guilty to, and a fine of up to US$250,000 or twice the pecuniary gain of the offence.
