Why couldn't the conclave be hacked?
The Vatican, which has only two mobile phone antennas, has implemented a strict system of technological isolation.
In the conclave that this week appointed Robert Prevost as Leo XIV, technology and tradition have been engaged in a curious battle. While the 133 cardinals met in the Vatican to choose the successor to the Pope Francis, an unprecedented deployment of technological security measures has turned the Sistine Chapel into an impenetrable digital bunker.
The Vatican has implemented a much stricter system of technological isolation than the one used 12 years ago, when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis. At that time, mobile internet access was not yet so widespread. Instead, it has now been deemed necessary to explicitly prohibit it within the premises, in order to avoid both outside influence on the deliberations and spying on them.
The paradox does not go unnoticed: the same place where Guglielmo Marconi installed the first microwave link in history for voice communications in 1933 (between Rome and the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, 18 kilometers away), has now chosen to completely disconnect.
Disconnection from operators
The technological blackout operation consisted of leaving the entire Vatican grounds without mobile coverage, and it fell to Italian telephone operators, since the Vatican State does not have its own. For this reason, despite having been assigned the country code +379, the Vatican does not use it and instead opts for +39, the general code for Italy. In reality, the blackout consisted primarily of disconnecting the only two mobile phone sites within the Vatican: one belonging to TIM and the other to Vodafone, since neither WindTre nor Iliad have antennas within the small state.
The measure went into effect on Wednesday at 3:00 PM, with the formal start of the conclave, and remained in place until the proclamation of the new pontiff, after the traditional white smoke.
The challenge of mobile technology
The digital blackout inside the church has had to be combined with maintaining, and even reinforcing, coverage outside, especially in the Plaça de Sant Pere, where tens of thousands of faithful have gathered in recent days. An added complication has been the coexistence of various mobile phone technologies. With 5G antennas, it is relatively easy to precisely adjust the transmission beamwidth to limit its diffusion, but previous generations are not as precise. Furthermore, it should be noted that many cardinals and their entourages come from countries where 5G has not yet been deployed and therefore use phones with 2G, 3G, or 4G technologies.
Frequency jammers
The cardinals were "invited" to leave their electronic devices—cell phones, tablets, and laptops—in their rooms at the Santa Marta residence. According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, these devices would not be confiscated, but rather the cardinals' commitment was trusted, and they would not be searched. However, to avoid the possibility that a prelate might, voluntarily or inadvertently, bring a device into the conclave, jammers were installed in the Sistine Chapel and Santa Marta.
These devices—jammers In English, jammers emit radio signals on the same frequencies as cell phone antennas, creating interference that impedes all communication. They operate using a noise generator that produces random signals within a specific frequency range, effectively blocking communication between mobile devices and base stations.
It's quite common for law enforcement to use jammers to prevent the detonation of explosives activated by a cell phone. I've even been offline while working at a telecommunications conference (!) while the then-Prince Felipe de Borbón opened it. It's worth noting that the sale and use of these jammers is prohibited in most states, except for law enforcement agencies. In Spain, for example, the General Telecommunications Law classifies their use by individuals as a very serious offense, with fines that can reach up to 20 million euros.
The two main spaces of the conclave were also meticulously explored for hidden microphones and video cameras. Furthermore, the windows were covered with opaque sheets to prevent drones or satellites from capturing images of the interior of the venue; these sheets were also laser-resistant, in order to prevent espionage using advanced listening technologies.
A dual objective: isolation and confidentiality
The physical and digital isolation measures have a dual purpose: on the one hand, to prevent the cardinals from receiving messages or outside influences during deliberations, and on the other, to prevent details of internal debates and votes from being leaked. With this strict protocol, the Vatican relies exclusively on the traditional system of communication through the Internet. fumata: black when the necessary majority has not been achieved in a vote, and white when the new pope has finally been chosen.
Commitment to silence under penalty of excommunication
In keeping with the fact that the weakest link in any technological chain is humans, the shielding is complemented by a strict commitment to silence that affects not only the cardinal electors, but also all the personnel involved: from the cooks and ushers to the shuttle bus drivers who transport the cardinals the hundreds of meters.
All have had to take an oath to maintain absolute secrecy regarding any information related to the conclave, under penalty of excommunication for non-compliance. This measure, which dates back to the era of Pope Benedict XVI, is particularly strict and explicit. The oath includes the commitment "not to use any audio or video equipment capable of recording anything that occurs during the election period within Vatican City."
Vatican Cybersecurity
To protect the process from possible external intrusions, all internal Vatican communications have also been encrypted using a server installed by the Vatican Gendarmerie in the Apostolic Library. This is a particularly sensitive aspect, since the newspaper The Time revealed last year that 90% of Vatican websites didn't even have the basic encryption HTTPS protocol activated.
Concerns about cybersecurity are not unfounded. In recent years, the Vatican has suffered several cyberattacks, coinciding with Pope Francis' criticism of the war in Ukraine and the visit of the country's first lady, Olena Zelenska, pointing to Russia's involvement. For this conclave, the collaboration of the Italian Cybersecurity Agency has even been requested to guarantee an immediate response to any attempted intrusion.
