The US has issued cyber-related sanctions against four individuals and three entities linked to the acquisition and sale of harmful cyber tools and the theft of American trade secrets
The United States Department of the Treasury announced on Tuesday that it had imposed cyber-related sanctions on four individuals and three entities, including organisations based in Russia and the United Arab Emirates. The measures were introduced over what officials described as the acquisition and distribution of cyber tools deemed harmful to US national security.
In a parallel statement, the United States Department of State said one of the sanctioned individuals and two of the targeted entities had also been designated under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act (PAIPA) in connection with the theft of trade secrets from US persons.
Case tied to former contractor who sold sensitive cyber exploits
The sanctions stem from a US investigation involving former government-contractor executive Peter Williams, who sold trade secrets worth $1.3 million to a Russian buyer, one of the sanctioned entities. Williams, formerly of L3Harris, pleaded guilty last year to two counts of theft of trade secrets.
The United States Department of Justice said he had taken “at least eight sensitive and protected cyber-exploit components” from his job and sold them to “a Russian cyber-tools broker”. An exploit is a piece of code designed to take advantage of a software vulnerability, commonly used for theft, espionage or sabotage.
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