A former U.S. defence contractor executive, Peter Williams, 39, an Australian who worked for L3Harris, was sentenced in the United States to 87 months in prison for selling eight zero-day exploits to the Russian broker Operation Zero. Court documents say Williams sold the tools for up to $4 million in cryptocurrency and abused his senior role to supply stolen software to a geopolitical threat actor, with eight zero-day exploit components stolen from L3Harris between 2022 and 2025.
He pleaded guilty in October 2025 to two counts of trade secret theft, and the DoJ press release notes a three-year supervised release and the forfeiture of assets including property, cryptocurrency, and a money judgment of $1.3 million; a restitution hearing is scheduled for 12 May 2026. The U.S.
State Department designated Operation Zero, its director Sergey Zelenyuk, and Special Technology Services LLC FZ under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act, and OFAC sanctioned related individuals and entities connected to Zelenyuk. The press also links the case to Trenchant’s former executive who allegedly sold tools downstream to other brokers, while noting that the stolen exploits could target civilian and military devices globally and enable various cyber operations.