Episode 121: Dr. Bilyana Lilly on Russian Information Warfare and Navigating Future Risks

In this OODAcast, Matt interviews Dr. Bilyana Lilly who is an expert on Russian information warfare and geo-political risk. Bilyana is also the author of the book Russian Information Warfare and the novel Digital Mindhunters.

Dr. Lilly shares her fascinating origin story and how she emerged as one of the premiere experts on Russian information warfare and geopolitical dynamics. Bilyana has worked tracking international arms and weapons supply chains, conflict zones, and other geo-political dynamics in academia, the private sector, and at internationally renowned think tanks. She shares fascinating insights from her time attending a Russian military conference with top leaders, her activities tracking information warfare and influence campaigns and then the conversation shifts to current geo-political risks including the conflict in Ukraine and what we can expect by way of targeting during the upcoming US election cycle.

Official Bio:

Dr. Bilyana Lilly is the chair of the cyber track at the Warsaw Security Forum and an adjunct researcher at the RAND Corporation. Dr. Lilly helps clients to detect and respond to ransomware threats and information warfare activities. Bilyana led a team that developed a threat-based risk assessment framework to prioritize vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security now uses in all 50 states. She is a speaker at DefCon, CyCon, Executive Women's Forum, and the author of two books and a dozen publications, translated in Russian and Chinese. Dr. Lilly has been cited in the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and ZDNet. She has been denounced by Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Lilly has a Ph.D. from Pardee RAND Graduate School, and master’s degrees from Oxford University (distinction) in England and the Graduate Institute in Switzerland.

Additional Resources:

• Connect with Dr. Lilly on LinkedIn
• Russian Information Warfare: Assault on Democracies in the Cyber Wild West