The impact of mobile networks on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Friday 30 September 2022, 14:00 - 14:30 Red room

Cathal Mc Daid (Enea AdaptiveMobile Security)

A huge discussion point within the IT security community before Russian forces crossed over into Ukraine on 24 February was what form a Russian ‘cyberwar’ would take. A key point that was missed by many commentators was the potential impact of mobile networks in any hybrid conflict. This talk will cover how the use of mobile networks has profoundly influenced the course of the war since the very beginning of the invasion. Examples will cover the actions taken by Ukraine to strengthen and secure their mobile networks to improve morale, deny security and gather intelligence on Russian forces. We will also examine the more recent responses by Russia in their establishment of separatist mobile operators to try to negate the advantages that Ukraine has in this area. Finally, we will cover what we can expect will happen in the future on the ‘Mobile Network Battlefield’ and the knock-on implications for the protection of mobile networks and countries worldwide.

Cathal Mc Daid Cathal Mc Daid is the CTO at Enea AdaptiveMobile Security. He is one of the world's foremost experts in mobile network security, and his role is to lead a team responsible for applied research in the fields of cybersecurity & mobile networks. His pivotal work in the industry has been recognized by the GSM Association where he is the editor and author of the SS7 Interconnect Security Guidelines (GSMA FS.11) and the 5G Interconnect Security Guidelines (GSMA FS.36). His research work focuses on exploitation of mobile core network and messaging technologies, including the discovery of the actively exploited Simjacker SIM card vulnerability – which he presented at previous Virus Bulletin conferences – as well as the area of nation-state exploitation of mobile core networks. @mcdaidc

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