An Australian intelligence insider and cybersecurity executive is facing more than a decade in a US jail after pleading guilty to selling a Russian broker his employer's trade secrets.

Peter Joseph Williams faced the US District Court in Washington DC on Wednesday, local time, charged with stealing eight trade secrets — a business term used to describe confidential and often valuable material that gives organisations a competitive edge.

While the specific nature of the information Williams stole has not been made public, prosecutor Tejpal Chawla told the court the products were supposed to be sold "exclusively to the US government and select allies".

Mr Chawla said the 39-year-old "admitted his actions had affected intelligence communities in Australia and the United States".

Williams,

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