"Williams pleaded to two counts of theft of trade secrets stolen from U.S. defense contractor L3Harris Trenchant between 2022 and 2025. This included national-security-focused software that included at least eight sensitive and protected cyber-exploit components that were meant to be sold exclusively to the U.S. government and select allies. "Williams sold the trade secrets to a Russian cyber-tools broker that publicly advertises itself as a reseller of cyber exploits to various customers, including the Russian government," the U.S. Department of Justice said."
"While the name of the exploit broker was not disclosed, evidence points to Operation Zero, which has previously offered up to $4 million for Telegram exploits and $20 million for tools that could be used to break into Android and iPhone devices. Operation Zero advertises itself as the "only Russian-based zero-day vulnerability purchase platform." Earlier this August, another United Arab Emirates-based startup named Advanced Security Solutions also announced rewards of up to $20 million for hacking tools that could help governments break into any smartphone with a text message."
Attackers are narrowing focus to fewer, higher-value targets and extracting more impact from each intrusion. Defenders are confronting growing blind spots that include spoofed messages and large-scale social engineering campaigns. An insider, Peter Williams, pleaded guilty to selling U.S. defense contractor trade secrets, including at least eight protected cyber-exploit components, to a Russian cyber-tools broker and received cryptocurrency payments used to buy luxury items. Evidence points to Operation Zero and other platforms offering multi-million-dollar bounties for zero-day exploits. Startups and brokers are amplifying demand for powerful hacking tools that can break into smartphones and messaging systems.
Read at The Hacker News
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