L3Harris Trade Secrets Case Advances After Former Executive Pleads Guilty

Federal prosecutors secured a guilty plea from Peter Williams, a former executive at L3Harris Technologies, involved in the sale of zero-day vulnerabilities and exploit technology (United States v. Peter Williams). Kim Zetter reports in Wired that Williams admitted to transferring trade secrets valued at least $1.3 million to a buyer in Russia.

The plea in the DC District Court resolves charges that carry a potential 20-year maximum sentence, although the court indicated that advisory guidelines point to a substantially shorter term. Williams remains under electronic monitoring until sentencing, and he has agreed to pay restitution equal to the assessed value of the information at issue.

The transfers occurred over several years, during which Williams worked for L3Harris Trenchant. Although he spent less than a year formally in a director role, prosecutors stated he had earlier ties to the company or its predecessor entities. His background also included work for the Australian Signals Directorate, an agency with responsibility for signals intelligence and cyber operations.

According to court filings, Williams stole eight trade secrets from two companies and sold them to a Russian software broker dealing in zero-day vulnerabilities between 2022 and 2025.

Prosecutors described Williams’ use of an encrypted email account under an alias to negotiate sales, execute contracts, and, in at least one instance, commit to providing ongoing support for the software he transferred. They also stated that the FBI alerted L3Harris in 2024 to leaked source code, prompting an internal investigation that Williams himself helped oversee.

During multiple FBI interviews in the summer of 2025, he discussed potential insider-exfiltration methods and later admitted that he had executed two contracts with the Russian company under his alias.

This case serves as a reminder to attorneys that internal security controls, incident-response protocols, and conflict-of-interest safeguards require continuous evaluation. It reflects the need to document investigative steps, preserve access-management records, and ensure that ongoing inquiries are handled by personnel free of potential involvement.