Cyber Warfare, Disinformation, and Geopolitical Risks with Dr. Bilyana Lilly | 16

In this bonus episode, Ciaran and James sit down with Dr. Bilyana Lilly, to discuss cyber disinformation, diplomacy and defense. Here Bilyana sheds light on how geopolitical risk affects technology, including cyber threats, information warfare, and the evolving global security landscape.

Guest Bio:

Dr. Bilyana Lilly, CISSP is a professional with over 20 years of experience in technology and defense. Dr. Lilly is an Associate Director at Accenture and serves on the Advisory Boards of the venture capital firm Night Dragon and the cybersecurity firm RunSafe Security. She chairs the Democratic Resilience Track of the Warsaw Security Forum. Dr. Lilly holds a PhD in policy analysis, and three master’s degrees, including an honors degree from Oxford University. Her book "Russian Information Warfare" became a bestseller and is on display at the Pentagon. Her debut novel "Digital Mindhunters" recently became available on Amazon. Dr. Lilly is a mentor and a speaker at RSA, DefCon, CyCon, and the Executive Women’s Forum. She has been denounced by Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, chased by a Russian soldier, and called a cyber expert by Tom Hanks.

Highlights:

Overview of Bilyana’s achievements and engagements

• • Semantic Scholar | RAND Publications
  • Russian Information Warfare | U.S. Naval Institute
  • Debut novel – Digital Mind Hunters

NATO-Russia Relations in the 2010s

• • NATO Approves Expanded Missile Defense | Arms Control Association
  • S. Missile Defense Policy A Phased, Adaptive Approach for Missile Defense in Europe
• • Iskander, Pershing II and Missile Defences: History Repeating | Royal United Services Institute | Russia and European Missile Defenses Reflexive Reset?

Russia’s disinformation campaigns

Russia’s use of cyber attacks and disinformation as tools of influence, targeting both national governments and public discourse to achieve strategic objectives.

• • Cyber attacks against Estonia (2007) | How a cyber attack transformed Estonia | The disinformation landscape in Estonia
• • Russia’s Influence on Europe’s Far-Right Violent Extremism | International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - ICCT
  • Politically Motivated Denial of Service Attacks

Consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

• Ukraine war: Putin orders partial mobilisation after facing setbacks

• • Foreign firms' losses from exiting Russia top $107 billion | Reuters
  • Why are people leaving Russia, who are they, and where are they going?
• • All Quiet on the Cyber Front? Explaining Russia’s Limited Cyber Effects | How Russia killed its tech industry | MIT Technology Review
  • The Role of Technology Sanctions in Crippling Russia’s War Machine | Amazon, Microsoft and Google have suspended cloud sales in Russia

Chinese approach

China’s ambitious industrial policies reshaping global trade dynamics and causing tension with Western economies.

• • China's Policy-Driven Initiatives Shaping Its Industries in 2025 | Is ‘Made in China 2025’ a Threat to Global Trade?
• • 2025 China Business Climate Survey Report – AmCham China
  • Record number of US companies weigh China exit as Trump tensions rise

Additional Resources:

• Snowden arrives at Moscow airport from Hong Kong
• Frameworks | NIST
• Scammers siphon $25M from engineering firm Arup via AI deepfake ‘CFO’
• Global Risks Report 2025 | World Economic Forum | The 5 greatest risks facing the world in 2025

Contact:

• Have questions or comments? Email us at cyberleaderspodcast@sans.org