Cyber exec with lavish lifestyle charged with selling secrets to Russia

Federal prosecutors have charged a former general manager of US government defense contractor L3Harris's cyber arm Trenchant with selling secrets to an unidentified Russian buyer for $1.3 million.

According to the Justice Department, Peter Williams stole seven trade secrets belonging to two unnamed companies between April 2022 and June 2025 "knowing and intending those secrets to be sold outside of the United States, and specifically to a buyer based in the Russian Federation."

The court documents [PDF] don't specify what the trade secrets involved, but Williams worked as a director and general manager at L3Harris' Trenchant division, which develops cyber weapons.

According to the company's website, it supports "national security operations with end-point intelligence solutions," and is "a world authority on cyber capabilities, operating in the fields of computer network operations and vulnerability research."

This is corporate speak for offensive cyber tech, such as zero-day exploits ...