The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned the Russian exploit broker Operation Zero (also known as Matrix LLC) and its founder, Sergey Zelenyuk, for purchasing stolen U.S. government cyber tools.

Key Details of the Sanctions:

• The Theft: The action stems from the case of Peter Williams, a former manager at defense contractor L3Harris, who stole eight high-level “zero-day” exploits.
• The Transaction: Williams sold these “Five Eyes” intelligence tools to Operation Zero for roughly $1.3 million in cryptocurrency.
• The Impact: The U.S. government estimated the theft caused $35 million in losses, potentially exposing millions of global devices to Russian state access.
• Legal Landmark: This marks the first time the U.S. has utilized the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act (PAIPA) to target foreign entities for trade secret theft.

While Zelenyuk remains at large, Williams was sentenced in a U.S. District Court to 87 months in prison for his role in the scheme.