The U.S. authorities has accused a former govt at protection contractor L3Harris of stealing commerce secrets and techniques and promoting them to a purchaser in Russia, in response to court docket paperwork seen by information.killnetswitch.
On October 14, the Division of Justice accused Peter Williams of stealing eight commerce secrets and techniques from two unnamed firms. The DOJ made the allegation in a “legal data” doc, which, like an indictment, represents a proper accusation of alleged crimes.
The doc doesn’t specify Williams’ relationship with the 2 firms, specify the sorts of commerce secrets and techniques, nor title the alleged Russian purchaser.
information.killnetswitch has confirmed that the Williams talked about within the doc, which doesn’t specify the place he labored, is the previous basic supervisor at Trenchant, a division of L3Harris that develops hacking and surveillance instruments for Western governments, together with america.
Williams turned Trenchant’s basic supervisor on October 23, 2024, and he labored at Trenchant till August 21, 2025, per U.Okay. enterprise information. Williams, a 39-year-old Australian citizen, resided in Washington D.C., in response to the court docket doc.
4 former Trenchant workers had beforehand instructed information.killnetswitch that Williams, who was recognized inside the corporate as “Doogie,” had been arrested.
A spokesperson for the Justice Division confirmed to information.killnetswitch on Thursday that Williams is just not presently in federal custody.
The DOJ accused Williams of stealing seven commerce secrets and techniques between April 2022 and June 2025, and the eighth commerce secret between June and August 6, 2025.
In response to the legal data doc, the U.S. authorities alleged Williams made $1.3 million for the sale of the commerce secrets and techniques. For that cause, the DOJ seeks to forfeit Williams’ property derived from his alleged crimes.
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A spokesperson for L3Harris didn’t reply to a request for remark by press time.
Williams’ legal professional John Rowley declined to remark when contacted by information.killnetswitch on Thursday.
The FBI, and the U.S. District Courtroom for District of Columbia, the place Williams’ case is being prosecuted, didn’t reply to a number of requests for touch upon Thursday. (The U.S. authorities has been shut down since October 1 following a lapse in federal funding.)
When reached by information.killnetswitch in September relating to Williams, the FBI declined to remark. The Australian Alerts Directorate declined to remark as this can be a matter for regulation enforcement.
An arraignment and plea settlement listening to is scheduled for October 29 in Washington D.C.
In 2018, L3Harris acquired Azimuth and Linchpin Labs, two sister startups that developed zero-days, which then merged to grow to be Trenchant. The 2 firms bought hacking instruments to the so-called 5 Eyes, an intelligence sharing group made up of the governments of america, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Earlier this week information.killnetswitch solely reported, citing 4 former Trenchant workers, that the corporate was investigating a leak of its hacking instruments.
A former exploit developer at Trenchant instructed information.killnetswitch that they had been suspected of leaking the instruments, however denied any involvement.
The previous developer stated Trenchant designated him a scapegoat for the leaks of instruments able to exploiting vulnerabilities in Google Chrome, which he claimed wouldn’t have had entry to provided that he labored on growing iOS exploits. Three former workers stated that Trenchant compartmentalizes what workers get entry to relying on what platforms they work on.
Sources corroborated the exploit developer’s account, and stated that the corporate wrongly accused the previous worker.
It’s not instantly clear if this yr’s leak investigation at Trenchant is said to the federal accusation towards Williams.
The case towards Williams is being prosecuted by the DOJ Nationwide Safety Division’s part on Counterintelligence and Export Management.
