The Department of Justice just dropped bombshell charges against Peter Williams, former general manager of L3Harris' elite hacking division Trenchant, alleging he pocketed $1.3 million selling sensitive cyberweapons to Russian buyers. The case exposes a potential massive breach at one of America's most secretive defense contractors, threatening national security just as cyber warfare escalates globally.
The cybersecurity world just got rocked by what could be one of the most damaging insider threat cases in recent memory. L3Harris, the $18 billion defense giant, is facing questions about how its most sensitive hacking tools might have ended up in Russian hands through a trusted executive.
Peter Williams, who went by "Doogie" inside the secretive Trenchant division, allegedly ran a lucrative side business selling America's cyber weapons to the enemy. According to DOJ criminal information documents obtained by TechCrunch, the 39-year-old Australian citizen made $1.3 million over three years by trafficking eight different trade secrets.
The timing couldn't be worse for L3Harris. Williams held one of the most sensitive positions in American cyber warfare - running day-to-day operations at Trenchant, the company's hacking division that develops zero-day exploits and surveillance tools exclusively for the Five Eyes intelligence alliance. These aren't just any cyber tools; they're the digital equivalent of nuclear weapons, designed to penetrate the most secure systems on earth.
What makes this case particularly explosive is Williams' access level. He became Trenchant's general manager on October 23, 2024, according to U.K. business records, giving him oversight of tools capable of exploiting everything from iPhones to Google Chrome. The alleged theft spanned from April 2022 through August 2025, meaning Williams was selling secrets even before his promotion to the top job.
L3Harris built Trenchant through a 2018 acquisition spree, buying up sister companies Azimuth and Linchpin Labs for their cutting-edge exploit development capabilities. These weren't startup acquisitions - they were strategic plays to dominate the cyber warfare market. The merged entity became a crown jewel in America's digital arsenal, developing tools so sensitive they're only shared with the closest intelligence allies.
