Cellular networks support many facets of our everyday lives, ranging from a quick web search on the go to requesting help in emergencies. The same technology that enables these useful and sometimes crucial features often relies on outdated standards and insecure implementations. They provide malicious actors with capabilities to remotely track targets and potentially use over-the-air exploits to infect their devices.

We require a comprehensive understanding of the cellular stack in a given device to better research possible attack vectors and develop countermeasures. Research into the cellular stack of Apple devices remains very limited. Our work aims to close this research gap by reverse-engineering proprietary interfaces and protocols. We are developing new tools to detect suspicious activity in communications between iOS and baseband chipsets, to analyze the iPhone’s cellular architecture, and to evaluate the security properties of Apple’s new C1 baseband. This talk will introduce some of our tools and findings to date.

About Lukas Arnold

Lukas Arnold joined IMDEA Networks in July 2026 as a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Matthias Hollick and also began his doctoral studies at TU Darmstadt’s Secure Mobile Networking Group. His research focuses on the security of wireless coprocessors in smartphones, particularly in the cellular context. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from the Technical University of Darmstadt.

Este evento se impartirá en inglés