The U.S. government has apparently charged a former cybersecurity company official with stealing trade secrets with the intention of selling them to a Russian buyer, according to court documents and news reports.
Court documents didn’t name the companies involved in the case, but Bloomberg and TechCrunch said the defendant – Peter Williams – is a former director at L3Harris Trenchant, which does vulnerability and security work for government clients.
The Cyber Express reached out to U.S. and defense attorneys and L3Harris for comment on the case and was told by a U.S. attorney that they couldn’t comment on an ongoing case. L3Harris Trenchant is not charged with wrongdoing in the matter.
The use of a Criminal Information document to bring the charges suggests the possibility of a plea deal in the case. Williams is scheduled to appear in court on October 29 for an “Arraignment and Plea Agreement Hearing,” according to court records.
L3Harris Trenchant’s Sensitive Security Work
Trenchant was created following the acquisitions of Azimuth Security and Linchpin Labs by defense contractor L3Harris Technologies.
According to a Trenchant information page, “Much of our work is neither public nor publicized. We work with select customers who share our ethical standards and have a formal mandate to operate in this space. Our solutions are driven by holistic analysis of real operational scenarios, yielding capabilities that are tuned to thrive and survive in real-world environments.”
“We are a trusted, discreet partner furnishing security products, consultancy, training and integration services to allied governments, defense, security and law enforcement agencies,” Trenchant’s website adds.
Trenchant’s solutions include vulnerability and exploit research, APIs for intelligence operations, “device and access capabilities,” and computer network operations (CNO) products.
The Charges: Stealing Trade Secrets
The two-count U.S. Criminal Information document alleges that Williams stole seven trade secrets from two unnamed companies with the intention of selling them to a Russian buyer.
The first count states that between roughly April 2022 and June 2025, Williams allegedly “did knowingly steal, and without authorization, appropriate, take, carry away, conceal, and by fraud, artifice and deception, obtain such information, to wit, seven trade secrets … knowing and intending those secrets to be sold outside of the United States, and specifically to a buyer based in the Russian Federation (Russia).”
The second count says that between June 2025 and August 2025, Williams allegedly “did knowingly and without authorization copy, duplicate download, upload, alter, replicate, transmit, deliver, send, communicate and convey such information, that is one trade secret … knowing and intending those secrets to be sold outside of the United States, and specifically to a buyer based in the Russian Federation (Russia).”
Both are Theft of Trade Secrets charges under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1832(a)(1) and Title 18, United States Code, Section 1832(a)(2).
The U.S. seeks to collect $1.3 million in forfeited property from Williams.
