Former L3Harris Trenchant boss jailed for selling hacking tools to Russian broker

Peter Williams Sentenced to Seven Years for Selling Company’s Hacking Tools to Russian Firm

Peter Williams, a former U.S. defense contractor boss, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for stealing and selling his former company’s hacking and surveillance tools to a Russian firm. This news was first reported by Bloomberg and Cyberscoop.

Williams was the general manager of Trenchant, a division of the defense contractor L3Harris, which sells hacking and surveillance tools to the U.S. government and its top allies, known as the Five Eyes. These allies include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Last year, Williams, a 39-year-old Australian citizen residing in Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty to selling seven Trenchant trade secrets to a Russian broker. The broker was later identified as Operation Zero, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. Operation Zero specializes in acquiring security vulnerabilities in Android and iPhone devices, as well as messaging apps like Telegram, and reselling them to the Russian government and local companies.

The U.S. Department of Justice stated that the hacking tools sold by Williams could have allowed the end customer to potentially access millions of computers and devices worldwide. Williams, who had previously worked for an Australian spy agency and the country’s military, admitted to making $1.3 million in crypto from the sales between 2022 and 2025.

Both L3Harris and Williams’ lawyers have not yet responded to requests for comment on the matter.