U.S. defense contractor who sold hacking tools to Russian broker ordered to pay $10 million to former employers

Peter Williams, a veteran cybersecurity executive who was the head of the hacking and surveillance tech division of U.S. defense contractor L3Harris, has been ordered to pay $10 million to its former employer. Williams was the central figure in one of the worst leaks of advanced hacking tools in the history of the United States and its closest allies. On Wednesday, a judge ordered Williams to pay that amount in restitution on top of the $1.3 million he had already been ordered to pay to L3Harris. Williams, a 39-year-old Australian citizen who previously worked in one of Australia’s intelligence agencies, was until last year the general manager of Trenchant. Born out of the acquisition of two sister startups, Trenchant is L3Harris’ division that develops advanced spyware and hacking tools and sells them to the U.S. government and its allies in the so-called Five Eyes intelligence alliance, a coalition of five English-speaking nations that share classified intelligence with one another. In addition to the U.S., the alliance includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.