Sale of Cyber Tools - U.S. Sanctions

The United States Department of the Treasury on Tuesday imposed cyber-related sanctions on four individuals and three entities, including some based in Russia and the United Arab Emirates. The department said the targets were involved in acquiring and distributing cyber tools that threaten U.S. national security.

In a related move, the United States Department of State designated one individual and two entities under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act for their connection to the theft of trade secrets from U.S. persons. The sanctions are linked to an investigation involving a former executive of a U.S. government contractor accused of selling sensitive information to a Russian buyer.

Peter Williams, a former executive at L3Harris Technologies, pleaded guilty last year to stealing trade secrets. According to the Justice Department, he removed at least eight sensitive cyber-exploit components from his workplace and sold them to a Russian cyber-tools broker. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison, underscoring the U.S. government's firm stance on cybersecurity violations.