A former executive at a US-based defense contractor has pleaded guilty to stealing and selling sensitive trade secrets worth over $1.3 million to a Russian firm. Peter Williams, 39, who was the general manager of L3 Harris Trenchant's cyber division before his arrest, admitted to two counts of stealing trade secrets and selling them to an unnamed buyer in Russia.
Williams' actions were allegedly carried out between April 2022 and August 2025, a period during which he worked for L3 Trenchant. The company develops hacking tools for the US government and its allies, and was formed after L3 Technologies acquired two other companies.
Prosecutors claimed that Williams sold his stolen trade secrets to a Russian software broker worth hundreds of thousands of dollars using an encrypted email account under a pseudonym. As part of the plea agreement, Williams agreed to pay restitution of $1.3 million.
Williams faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on each count. However, prosecutors believe he would likely receive a sentence between 87 and 108 months in prison. The Russian-based software broker that bought the trade secrets is believed to be in the business of buying zero-day vulnerabilities and exploits from researchers and selling them to other companies and countries.
The FBI has been investigating Trenchant's alleged leak of its hacking tools by employees earlier this year, with Williams overseeing the investigation as the general manager. As part of his plea agreement, Williams also admitted to signing a contract with the Russian company worth hundreds of thousands of dollars using a pseudonym and an email address with the same name.
Williams used proceeds from the sale of the secrets to make a down payment on a home in Washington D.C., prosecutors said. The case is the latest example of US companies being targeted by foreign hackers seeking sensitive information.
Williams' actions were allegedly carried out between April 2022 and August 2025, a period during which he worked for L3 Trenchant. The company develops hacking tools for the US government and its allies, and was formed after L3 Technologies acquired two other companies.
Prosecutors claimed that Williams sold his stolen trade secrets to a Russian software broker worth hundreds of thousands of dollars using an encrypted email account under a pseudonym. As part of the plea agreement, Williams agreed to pay restitution of $1.3 million.
Williams faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on each count. However, prosecutors believe he would likely receive a sentence between 87 and 108 months in prison. The Russian-based software broker that bought the trade secrets is believed to be in the business of buying zero-day vulnerabilities and exploits from researchers and selling them to other companies and countries.
The FBI has been investigating Trenchant's alleged leak of its hacking tools by employees earlier this year, with Williams overseeing the investigation as the general manager. As part of his plea agreement, Williams also admitted to signing a contract with the Russian company worth hundreds of thousands of dollars using a pseudonym and an email address with the same name.
Williams used proceeds from the sale of the secrets to make a down payment on a home in Washington D.C., prosecutors said. The case is the latest example of US companies being targeted by foreign hackers seeking sensitive information.
. Someone who worked with top-secret tech for our country just sold it to Russia 
for millions of dollars 
. I mean, what's next? 
Our defense contractors are supposed to be keeping us safe, not selling out to the enemy 
. And to make matters worse, he got rich off of it 
. The punishment should be harsher 
. He might get 87-108 months in prison, which is still way too lenient in my opinion 
. I just wish they could've caught him sooner 
and prevented this from happening 
.
. I mean, $1.3 million for trade secrets? That's some serious cash 
. The FBI's been investigating this for months and finally gets a break... meanwhile, what about all the other companies being hacked like crazy? This just feels like more proof that our defense systems are a joke 
to cyber threats from other countries. I mean, $1.3 million is a lot of cash for some trade secrets, but it's crazy that someone could get away with selling them like they were going out of style 
. And now we're left wondering who else might be involved in this whole mess 
.
. I mean, if these tools are so valuable, why can't we invest more in protecting them? It just feels like we're playing whack-a-mole with cyber threats and never really getting ahead of the game 
.
. If this kind of thing keeps happening, it's going to damage trust between us and other countries even further 
. The fact that he used an encrypted email account and a pseudonym doesn't make this situation any less shady, btw 
.
. It's like we're all just playing a game of whack-a-mole, where the hackers are always one step ahead of the companies trying to keep them out 
. And what about the real damage? The US government is using hacking tools for its own defense, and now those same tools might be falling into the wrong hands 
he sold like millions of dollars worth of super classified info to a russian company and now hes facing up to 20 yrs in prison 
. And the craziest part is, he was investigating his own company for leaks while doing this behind-the-scenes deal 
. I hope he gets a good long sentence, like 10+ years in prison 
. It's just not worth it to risk everything for some quick cash 
. Anyways, 20 years in prison might be a decent sentence, but if you ask me, Williams should've done hard time from day one 
and now hes facing up to 20 yrs in prison 
This guy's got some serious nerve, you know? Selling out his own company and country for some quick cash 
? I mean, I get it, $1.3 million is a lot of money 
. It's like something straight out of a movie - "Mission: Impossible" level espionage, but not in a cool way 
. Anyway, I guess the FBI's doing their thing and hopefully they can prevent more cases like this from happening 
), we didn't have all these fancy hacking tools and whatnot. If you needed to get into someone's system, you just kinda had to find another way around it. Nowadays, it seems like it's like a big ol' game of cat and mouse with cyber spies trying to one-up each other.
. I mean, who does that? 
- 87-108 months in prison is no joke 
. This is a wake-up call for all companies 
. You can't just let people walk out with sensitive info and expect everything to be okay 
.