U.S. imposes cyber sanctions on UAE individuals, entities

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U.S. imposes cyber sanctions on UAE, Russian individuals, entities

February 25, 2026

WASHINGTON,— The United States on Tuesday imposed cyber-related sanctions on four individuals and three entities, including some located in Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

The action was announced on the U.S. Department of the Treasury website.

In a statement, the Treasury Department said the people and companies were targeted for acquiring and distributing cyber tools considered harmful to U.S. national security.

In a related step, the U.S. Department of State said one of the sanctioned individuals and two of the entities were also designated under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act.

The State Department said the designations were linked to the theft of trade secrets from U.S. persons.

The sanctions stem from a U.S. investigation involving a former executive at government contractor L3Harris.

Prosecutors said the former executive, Peter Williams, sold trade secrets to a buyer in Russia, one of the sanctioned entities, for $1.3 million.

Williams admitted guilt last year to two charges of stealing trade secrets. In a separate statement, the U.S. Department of Justice said he was sentenced on Tuesday to 87 months in federal prison.

The Justice Department said Williams removed at least eight sensitive and protected cyber exploit components from his employer and sold them to what it described as a Russian cyber tools broker.

An exploit is a type of computer code that takes advantage of weaknesses in software. Such tools are often used for theft, spying or sabotage.

(With files from Reuters)