An Australian national, who previously served as a general manager of an American cybersecurity firm, was charged earlier this month with stealing and then selling trade secrets to an undisclosed buyer in Russia. TechCrunch first reported on Thursday that Peter Williams, who served as general manager at Trenchant, the cybersecurity division of L3Harris, is accused of misappropriating eight trade secrets from two unnamed companies between April 2022 and August 2025.
Williams was reportedly paid $1.3 million for the trade secrets.
DoJ Filings
Department of Justice (DOJ) charges were filed with the United States District Court in Washington on October 14. The five-page DOJ filing alleges that Williams, a United States resident, conspired to steal and then sell the eight trade secrets. He was charged with “Theft of Trade Secrets,” a violation under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1832(a)(1).
U.S. investigators are seeking to seize $1.3 million from Williams, along with his D.C. residence and personal assets, including dozens of premium wristwatches, a Louis Vuitton handbag, rings and other jewelry, and high-end apparel. In addition, the DOJ seeks to seize “all funds, cryptocurrency, and fiat currency” held at seven banks in the UK, Australia, and the United States. Investigators claim all of the items were derived from criminal activity.
“The United States will also seek a forfeiture money judgment against the defendant equal to the value of any property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from, either directly or indirectly, with proceeds traceable to this offense, and any property used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part to commit or facilitate the commission of this offense, in the amount of $1,300,000,” the filing explained.
The DOJ did not disclose which companies’ trade secrets were allegedly stolen.
Due to the government shutdown, no official release or announcement has been made about Williams’ case, and prosecutors have not commented.
Williams’ case is being prosecuted by the DOJ National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. An arraignment and plea agreement hearing is now set for October 29.
Peter Williams and Trenchant – What We Know
The 39-year-old Williams was hired as Tenchant’s general manager just a year ago, on October 23, 2024, according to TechCrunch. He worked at the company until August 21, 2025.
He was reportedly known inside the company as “Doggie.”
Trenchant was founded following the 2018 L3Harris acquisitions of Azimuth Security and Linchpin Labs, a pair of Australian startups that developed zero-day software vulnerabilities supplied to the Five Eyes, the intelligence-sharing group made up of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Such technologies are considered valuable assets within the intelligence community (IC) and are tightly controlled due to their national security implications.
TechCrunch previously reported that Trenchant has been investigating a leak of its hacking tools, but it is unclear if that is related to the accusations against Peter Williams.
The hacking tools were described as being “capable of exploiting vulnerabilities in Google Chrome.” A developer at the company said he was scapegoated for the leak. Still, three other employees said the company “compartmentalizes what employees get access to depending on what platforms they work on.”
Neither Trenchant nor its parent company, the Melbourne, Florida-based L3Harris, was accused of any wrongdoing in the federal complaint.
