The twenty-first century has ushered in an era where war isn’t confined to the borders of land, sea, or air. Instead, an invisible battlefield thrives in the vast, interconnected web of digital networks. Cyberwarfare stands at the forefront of this new conflict landscape. It is a clandestine form of aggression that unfolds in bits and bytes, where a country’s digital infrastructure is both a weapon and a target.

Unlike traditional warfare, where tanks and troops are deployed, cyberwarfare requires a mastery of code, stealth, and timing. Nations engage in digital offensives not to physically occupy territory but to destabilize governments, sabotage economies, and manipulate public opinion. The underlying aim is disruption, not necessarily destruction, although the latter often becomes a byproduct of successful incursions.

Anatomy of a Cyber Attack

At the core of cyberwarfare lies a simple yet potent principle: asymmetry. A small group of skilled attackers with limited resources can cause disproportionate damage to a nation’s infrastructure. Attacks typically begin with reconnaissance. Cyber operatives study their target’s digital terrain, identifying vulnerabilities in networks, devices, and software. They often leverage zero-day exploits, security gaps that remain unknown to the affected organizations.

Once inside a system, attackers can exfiltrate sensitive data, disrupt services, or plant dormant malicious code for later activation. These incursions may go undetected for months, sometimes years, allowing adversaries to observe and manipulate internal processes silently. The stealth of cyberwarfare is part of its menace. Unlike physical conflict, where an attack is visibly evident, digital breaches often remain covert until tangible damage surfaces.

Governmental Systems Under Siege

One of the primary objectives in cyberwarfare is targeting a country’s governmental systems. These encompass everything from voter registration databases to military communication networks. Intrusions here can influence democratic processes, compromise national defense, and erode public trust. For instance, when attackers manipulate electoral data or disrupt governmental services, the consequences extend far beyond technical setbacks. They strike at the heart of national identity and civic structure.

Government databases often house biometric identifiers, classified correspondence, and interdepartmental communication logs. Breaches in these areas can lead to identity theft, blackmail, and compromised diplomatic relations. The attackers don’t merely steal data; they siphon sovereignty.

Infrastructure as Collateral

A less discussed but equally vital facet of cyberwarfare is the attack on public infrastructure. The electric grid, water supply systems, transportation networks, and telecommunication frameworks represent soft underbellies of national security. These systems are often digitally controlled through industrial control systems (ICS) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) protocols, which are notorious for being outdated and inadequately protected.

Cyber adversaries exploit these digital relics to cause real-world chaos. They can shut down power to entire cities, derail trains, or contaminate water supplies. These aren’t hypothetical scenarios; they’re realities witnessed in modern conflicts. The goal is not always to cause mass casualties but to fracture public morale and showcase vulnerability.

Weaponizing Disinformation

Cyberwarfare is not restricted to attacking systems. One of its most insidious strategies is the propagation of disinformation. This tactic manipulates narratives, polarizes communities, and disorients truth. Operatives create and disseminate fake news, deepfakes, and misleading statistics through social media platforms and news aggregators. The intention is to erode societal cohesion and sow discord among allies.

Disinformation campaigns often precede or accompany direct cyberattacks. They serve as digital smokescreens, distracting analysts and diluting responses. A well-coordinated disinformation barrage can make populations question their institutions, facts, and even their neighbors. It is psychological warfare waged through hyperlinks and hashtags.

Financial Systems as Strategic Targets

Economic destabilization is a major objective in cyberwarfare. Financial institutions, stock exchanges, and national treasuries present high-value targets. By attacking these sectors, adversaries can induce panic, undermine investor confidence, and paralyze economic functions.

Cyber operatives might manipulate market data, initiate fraudulent transactions, or freeze banking operations. The fallout from such attacks can lead to inflation, capital flight, and systemic distrust in digital banking infrastructures. Beyond causing immediate losses, these assaults can reshape the long-term economic trajectory of a nation.

Evolution of Digital Warfare Tactics

As technology advances, so too do the methodologies of cyberwarfare. In earlier stages, simple viruses and worms served the purpose. Now, state-sponsored actors deploy polymorphic malware, AI-driven attacks, and quantum-resistant encryption to mask their tracks. Cyberwarfare has evolved from primitive disruptions to sophisticated operations involving multidisciplinary teams.

These teams often include programmers, behavioral analysts, cryptographers, and geopolitical strategists. Their goal is to understand not just the technical architecture but also the psychological, economic, and cultural contours of their targets. It is war reimagined through the lens of digital anthropology.

The Unseen Costs

While the direct consequences of cyberwarfare—such as system shutdowns and data leaks—are immediately evident, the indirect costs are more profound and enduring. These include a diminished sense of security among citizens, long-term reputational damage to affected institutions, and the erosion of diplomatic alliances.

Moreover, the economic repercussions ripple through markets, leading to fluctuating currency values, disrupted trade, and investor pullbacks. Cyberwarfare thus becomes a slow-burning crisis that continues to extract tolls long after the initial attack.

In sum, cyberwarfare represents a transformative challenge in the realm of national and international security. It operates under the radar, exploits human and technical vulnerabilities, and redefines the rules of engagement. Unlike kinetic warfare, which ends with ceasefires and treaties, cyberwarfare is perpetual, evolving, and omnipresent.

Understanding its nuances is not merely an academic exercise but a necessary step toward resilience. As nations continue to digitize, their exposure to these invisible threats intensifies. Preparing for cyberwarfare demands a paradigm shift in how we conceptualize war, defend sovereignty, and preserve civil order in an age where lines of code are more lethal than bullets.

The Anatomy of a Digital Offensive

Peering into the operational framework of cyberwarfare reveals a methodical yet dynamic approach to execution. Attacks are rarely impulsive. Instead, they are orchestrated like a symphony, with reconnaissance serving as the overture. Cyber operatives first conduct meticulous scans to catalog system weaknesses. These weaknesses might include outdated software, exposed APIs, or even unwitting human gateways like poorly trained employees.

After mapping the terrain, cyberattackers penetrate entry points using tailored exploits. Once inside, they often escalate privileges, giving them root access to core systems. At this stage, the operation branches into two paths: immediate disruption or prolonged surveillance. The former might involve wiping data, initiating ransomware attacks, or disabling critical services. The latter focuses on espionage, extracting sensitive data over time while remaining invisible.

Phases of Cyberwarfare Engagement

Cyberwarfare unfolds in distinguishable but sometimes overlapping phases. The first is the infiltration phase, where attackers breach the digital periphery. Next comes lateral movement, allowing the invaders to traverse networks, compromise internal systems, and identify high-value assets. This is followed by the exfiltration or execution phase, depending on the endgame.

If the goal is espionage, stolen data is extracted using encrypted channels, often routed through multiple proxy servers to obfuscate origin. If the objective is sabotage, payloads are executed to corrupt files, disable systems, or trigger kinetic consequences. In certain cases, sleeper malware is planted to be activated later, making cyberwarfare a latent threat that lingers.

Cyber Tools of the Trade

The digital arsenal employed in cyberwarfare is as sophisticated as it is expansive. Malware variants such as trojans, worms, and ransomware remain staples. However, advanced persistent threats (APTs) now dominate state-sponsored operations. APTs are slow, stealthy, and tailored to avoid detection while achieving deep infiltration.

Other tools include keyloggers, packet sniffers, and botnets. Botnets, for instance, consist of vast networks of hijacked devices that can be marshaled to launch coordinated attacks like DDoS offensives. These tools often operate autonomously once deployed, driven by complex scripts and machine learning algorithms that adapt to defensive measures in real-time.

Role of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence has revolutionized cyberwarfare by introducing predictive capabilities and autonomous decision-making into the attack matrix. AI algorithms can simulate human-like behaviors, making phishing emails nearly indistinguishable from legitimate communication. Meanwhile, machine learning models analyze target behaviors, identifying the most opportune moments to strike.

These AI-driven operations are not only faster but also scalable. An attack that once required weeks of planning can now be executed in hours, with constant adjustments made based on incoming data. Deepfakes, social engineering, and voice synthesis are also weaponized through AI, making deception nearly flawless.

The Cyberwarfare Command Structure

Contrary to the rogue-hacker mythos, most cyberwarfare operations are conducted through formalized chains of command within government or military institutions. Specialized units, often embedded within intelligence agencies, oversee digital combat strategies. These units include programmers, cryptographers, and even psychologists who tailor attacks to exploit human behavior.

Strategic decisions are made at the national level, often in tandem with geopolitical goals. Cyberwarfare is rarely isolated; it frequently accompanies economic sanctions, diplomatic standoffs, or even traditional military posturing. As such, it forms part of a broader strategy of hybrid warfare, where digital and physical elements are interwoven.

Psychological Manipulation and Cognitive Warfare

An underrated yet devastating tactic in cyberwarfare is cognitive infiltration. This approach targets public perception, aiming to distort reality and fracture social cohesion. Social media platforms are fertile ground for this. Through bot armies, fake accounts, and curated content, adversaries manipulate online discourse.

They amplify division, fuel conspiracy theories, and erode trust in institutions. Unlike propaganda of the past, modern disinformation is interactive, algorithmically tailored, and perpetuated by unwitting citizens. The result is a fragmented information environment where consensus becomes elusive and governance more difficult.

Attacks on Scientific and Medical Communities

In recent years, cyberwarfare has expanded its scope to include academia, research labs, and medical institutions. These are not random targets. Scientific breakthroughs often carry immense strategic value, especially in fields like biotechnology, AI, and pharmaceuticals. Cyber operatives infiltrate databases to steal research, sabotage experiments, or distort findings.

Hospitals and health networks, increasingly digitized, have also become frequent victims. Ransomware attacks on medical institutions not only paralyze operations but also endanger lives. During global health crises, such attacks can cripple response mechanisms, exacerbating human suffering for strategic advantage.

Proxy Warfare and Attribution Challenges

One of the most vexing aspects of cyberwarfare is attribution. Unlike traditional conflicts where uniforms and flags denote allegiances, digital skirmishes are cloaked in anonymity. Attacks are routed through multiple countries, encrypted, and often executed by proxies.

These proxies may be privateers, criminal syndicates, or hacktivist groups funded by nation-states. This plausible deniability allows countries to engage in cyber aggression without facing immediate diplomatic fallout. Attribution becomes a game of forensic breadcrumbs, often leading to political standoffs rather than conclusive proof.

The Role of Cyber Espionage

Espionage remains a cornerstone of cyberwarfare. Beyond stealing secrets, it involves monitoring adversaries to anticipate moves and manipulate outcomes. Governments use cyber tools to infiltrate foreign ministries, track diplomatic negotiations, and even listen in on classified conversations.

Espionage campaigns can last years, with operatives embedding themselves deep within networks. These long-term infiltrations allow not only data extraction but also strategic influence, enabling attackers to subtly alter decisions, reconfigure alliances, and shift geopolitical balances without firing a single shot.

Preemptive Strikes and Digital Blockades

Cyberwarfare isn’t always reactive. Preemptive digital strikes are often used to neutralize threats before they materialize. These strikes might disable missile defense systems, compromise communication networks, or sabotage logistics. In essence, they act as digital blockades, limiting a nation’s operational capabilities.

Some operations focus on degrading an adversary’s cyber infrastructure itself—attacking the very tools used for cyber defense and counterintelligence. By crippling a nation’s digital immune system, attackers ensure prolonged vulnerability and reduced response capacity.

Cyberwarfare has redefined conflict in the digital age. No longer confined to firepower and fortresses, modern warfare encompasses data, psychology, and code. Its battlefield is the cloud; its soldiers, silent algorithms; and its casualties, often unseen until systems collapse or societies fracture.

Understanding the intricacies of cyberwarfare’s strategies and tools is essential for building resilient defense mechanisms. As digital boundaries blur and technology advances, the imperative to stay ahead of potential adversaries becomes not just strategic, but existential.

Landmark Cyberwarfare Incidents That Changed the Game

Over the past decade, cyberwarfare has transitioned from a theoretical threat to a tangible force shaking global stability. Some incidents have become infamous, not just for their technical sophistication but for the ripple effects they caused in geopolitics, economy, and public consciousness.

One of the most infamous was the massive ransomware assault on Ukraine in 2017, known as the NotPetya attack. This wasn’t your average virus; it was a digital tempest that crippled critical infrastructure, knocked out bank servers, and disrupted transportation systems. The cascading failures halted everyday life and sowed chaos, illustrating how cyberwarfare can tangibly destabilize a nation’s foundation.

Closer to Western shores, the UK’s National Health Service suffered a devastating ransomware attack the same year. Beyond shutting down computers, this attack threatened human lives by disabling systems in hospitals, delaying urgent medical care, and forcing manual operation backups. It underlined a brutal truth: cyberwarfare can have fatal consequences.

The Guardian newspaper’s 2022 cyberattack further exposed how cultural and information institutions are no longer safe havens. When internal communications and editorial systems get compromised, the very fabric of public knowledge and free press becomes vulnerable, shaking the trust that democracies depend on.

When Tech Giants Get Targeted

Tech giants aren’t immune either. Google’s confrontation with China’s cyber offensives in 2009 revealed a new battleground for intellectual property and privacy. The attack aimed at harvesting sensitive email data from users across continents, exposing the thin veil between state surveillance and cyber espionage.

These high-profile attacks expose the stakes: cyberwarfare isn’t just about crashing servers, it’s about control — control over information, infrastructure, and influence.

How Cyberwarfare Impacts Everyday Life

Cyberwarfare is no longer confined to shadowy government labs or secretive intelligence hubs. Its effects trickle down, touching ordinary citizens in complex ways:

• Economic Fallout: When financial institutions are breached or payment networks compromised, the shockwaves hit everyday people—higher prices, unstable currencies, and shaken markets become the norm.
• Privacy Violations: Large-scale data breaches expose personal information, leading to identity theft, blackmail, or social engineering scams.
• Public Safety Risks: Attacks on infrastructure like power grids and healthcare systems can cause blackouts, emergency service failures, or even loss of life.
• Erosion of Trust: The dissemination of disinformation and propaganda warps social discourse, breeding cynicism and societal fragmentation.

Cyberwarfare thus morphs into a pervasive threat that undercuts the very trust systems that societies rely on.

Economic Disruption: The Silent Weapon

Disrupting a country’s economy through cyber means is a preferred tactic because it is subtle but devastating. Attacks on stock exchanges, banking networks, or payment processors can cause financial chaos without a single missile fired. The 2017 NotPetya attack was a textbook example: what started as a ransomware assault soon snowballed into an economic paralysis affecting global companies.

Economic sabotage can also take the form of tampering with trade data, distorting fiscal reports, or infiltrating supply chains. These moves unsettle markets and create uncertainty, often leading to long-term economic stagnation or decline.

Propaganda and Cognitive Warfare

Perhaps the most insidious and modern element of cyberwarfare is cognitive manipulation. Through social media bots, fake news factories, and deepfake videos, adversaries flood the information ecosystem with disinformation. This isn’t just about misinformation; it’s engineered confusion intended to divide populations, erode democratic processes, and destabilize governments from within.

The psychological impact of cognitive warfare is staggering. It creates echo chambers where people live in divergent realities, making collective action or consensus nearly impossible. The weaponization of information thus becomes a strategic tool to weaken opponents without firing a shot.

The Deadly Side of Cyberwarfare

Though it might seem abstract, cyberwarfare has deadly real-world consequences. Disabling hospital systems, manipulating traffic control, or sabotaging emergency services translates directly into lives lost. As more infrastructure becomes digitally dependent, the risk grows exponentially.

This raises ethical and legal quandaries. Unlike traditional combat, where civilians are protected by international law, cyberwarfare blurs these lines. The difficulty of attribution often means attacks on civilian systems go unpunished, creating a dangerous impunity loop.

Cyberwarfare vs Cybercrime: Why It Matters

The line between cybercrime and cyberwarfare can be fuzzy, but the motivations and scale distinguish them. Cybercrime is mostly about personal or financial gain, perpetrated by individuals or criminal syndicates. Cyberwarfare, in contrast, is a strategic, often state-sponsored endeavor aimed at destabilizing or gaining advantage over nations.

The impact of cyberwarfare operates at a macro level—affecting nations, economies, and societies—whereas cybercrime tends to be micro-targeted. Understanding this difference is crucial for designing defenses and policy frameworks that match the threat’s scope.

Future Trajectories: The Cyberwarfare Horizon

Looking ahead, cyberwarfare will become more complex and pervasive. With the rise of quantum computing, AI-powered attacks, and the expanding Internet of Things, vulnerabilities multiply. Defense strategies will need to evolve from reactive measures to predictive intelligence and autonomous countermeasures.

Furthermore, cyberwarfare will increasingly integrate with traditional warfare, creating hybrid conflicts where battles are fought on multiple fronts simultaneously. Civilian populations will find themselves on the frontline of information and infrastructure wars, making resilience and digital literacy essential.

Defending the Digital Frontier — Future Challenges and Solutions in Cyberwarfare

Cyber Resilience: The New Core of National Security

In the digital age, cyberwarfare has become a fundamental threat that no country can afford to ignore. Unlike traditional warfare where physical borders and battlefields exist, cyberwarfare plays out invisibly across global networks. This means the defense can no longer be about reactive patches or simple firewalls. Nations must adopt cyber resilience—a comprehensive approach that focuses not just on preventing attacks, but on anticipating them, absorbing the shocks, and rapidly recovering when breaches occur.

Cyber resilience is about transforming how governments and organizations think about cybersecurity. Instead of aiming for impossible “perfect security,” the focus shifts to minimizing damage and ensuring continuity. This mindset requires continuous monitoring of networks, automatic threat detection, and rapid incident response teams ready to isolate and neutralize threats. It’s about turning a breach into a manageable inconvenience rather than a catastrophic event.

This shift in mentality must pervade every level of government and business. Cyber resilience becomes part of national security doctrine, integrated into military strategy, critical infrastructure management, and even public awareness campaigns. Countries that fail to build this digital toughness risk catastrophic fallout in their economies, governance, and society.

Public-Private Partnerships: The Frontline Defense

Critical infrastructure like power grids, telecommunications, and healthcare is mostly owned and operated by private companies. This reality means governments can’t protect their digital assets alone. Effective cyber defense depends on robust public-private partnerships where government agencies and private enterprises work hand-in-hand.

Such partnerships enable intelligence sharing about new threats and vulnerabilities. Governments provide resources and threat intelligence, while private companies offer frontline insights into the practical realities of managing networks and defending assets. This symbiotic relationship fosters innovation, ensuring defense technologies and protocols stay ahead of evolving threats.

These alliances also promote coordinated responses during attacks, minimizing chaos and confusion. For example, if a ransomware attack targets an energy company, immediate government support can facilitate faster recovery, preventing blackouts and broader public safety risks.

Transparency and trust are crucial here. Private companies often hesitate to disclose breaches fearing reputational damage. Governments need to build frameworks encouraging timely information sharing without penalizing victims. Public-private cooperation is the backbone of any resilient cyber defense.

The Promise and Peril of Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Defense

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming cyberwarfare in two opposing ways. Attackers leverage AI to automate and scale attacks, making them faster and harder to detect. Meanwhile, defenders employ AI-driven tools for autonomous cyber defense—systems that monitor network activity, identify threats, and respond in real time without human intervention.

AI-powered defense platforms can analyze massive data streams to spot anomalies, predict attack vectors, and block intrusions before they escalate. This capability is vital as cyberattacks become increasingly sophisticated, often employing polymorphic malware and zero-day exploits.

However, relying on AI is not without risk. Autonomous systems must be transparent and accountable to prevent false positives, where legitimate operations are mistaken for attacks, or false negatives, where threats slip through. There’s also the danger of AI systems being tricked or “poisoned” by attackers feeding them misleading data.

The ethical dimension of AI in cyberwarfare is significant. Automated cyber responses could escalate conflicts inadvertently or cause collateral damage. Therefore, creating governance frameworks that regulate AI deployment—ensuring systems are secure, auditable, and aligned with international law—is critical.

International Cyber Norms: The Wild West Needs Rules

One of the biggest challenges in cyberwarfare is the absence of clear international laws and norms. Unlike nuclear weapons or chemical arms, cyber operations are largely unregulated globally. This legal vacuum allows countries to operate in a gray zone, engaging in attacks with little fear of diplomatic repercussions.

To prevent dangerous escalations, the global community must establish international cyber norms—agreements that define acceptable behavior in cyberspace. These should clarify what constitutes an act of cyberwarfare, identify “red lines” that should not be crossed, and outline consequences for violations.

Confidence-building measures such as cyber hotlines for communication, joint exercises to build trust, and transparent reporting of cyber incidents can reduce misunderstandings. Without such frameworks, cyber conflicts risk spiraling out of control, especially when attribution is difficult and quick retaliation tempting.

The geopolitical tensions surrounding cyber norms negotiations highlight how contentious this issue is. States worry about sovereignty and national security, making cooperation tricky. Nonetheless, the alternative—unrestrained cyberwarfare—threatens global stability.

Humans: The Weakest Link and Strongest Shield

Despite all the technology, the human factor remains the most critical aspect of cyber defense. Social engineering attacks like phishing exploit human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities. Employees clicking malicious links or using weak passwords open the door to devastating breaches.

Defending against cyberwarfare requires cultivating a security-first culture across organizations and society. This includes ongoing training programs to help staff recognize and respond to threats, developing clear protocols for incident reporting, and encouraging a mindset where cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility.

Public education campaigns are equally important. Citizens need digital literacy skills to avoid falling victim to misinformation or scams, which can be exploited in cognitive warfare aimed at destabilizing societies.

Investing in cybersecurity talent is also vital. The demand for skilled professionals far outpaces supply globally. Nations that prioritize building and retaining cyber expertise will be better equipped to defend themselves.

Emerging Technologies: New Frontiers and New Risks

Technological advances offer both opportunities and vulnerabilities in cyberwarfare. Quantum computing, for instance, promises to revolutionize data processing but also threatens to break existing encryption methods that protect digital communications.

Networks based on 5G technology will connect billions of devices, creating an enormous attack surface. IoT (Internet of Things) devices, many of which lack strong security, become easy entry points for cyber adversaries.

Blockchain technology offers potential for secure transactions and data integrity, but it’s not immune to attacks and manipulation. As computing power moves to the edge with edge computing, defending these decentralized environments becomes more complex.

To stay ahead, cybersecurity strategies must integrate secure-by-design principles from the earliest stages of technology development. Proactive risk assessments and threat modeling must become standard practice for innovators.

Legal and Ethical Dilemmas: The Human Cost of Digital Conflict

Cyberwarfare raises profound ethical questions. When attacks target hospitals, power grids, or emergency services, civilian populations suffer. Unlike conventional warfare, where international laws protect non-combatants, the digital domain’s rules are murky.

Questions arise: Is preemptive cyber strike justified if it prevents a bigger attack? How do you hold attackers accountable when attribution is difficult? What safeguards protect the privacy and rights of innocent civilians during cyber operations?

Legal frameworks must evolve to address these dilemmas. Principles like proportionality, distinction between military and civilian targets, and protection of human rights need clear articulation for cyberspace.

This will require not only technical measures but also diplomatic efforts to embed ethics into national cyber doctrines and international treaties.

Hybrid and Asymmetric Warfare: The Cyber Multiverse

Cyberwarfare rarely exists in a vacuum. It’s often part of hybrid conflicts that mix traditional military actions, economic pressure, propaganda, and cyberattacks. This creates asymmetric battles where smaller states or non-state actors leverage cyber tools to challenge bigger powers.

The complexity of these conflicts demands interdisciplinary approaches to defense—combining cyber intelligence with military strategy, economic policy, and information operations. Intelligence sharing across domains and allies becomes essential.

For civilians, this means the battlefield is everywhere—from social media feeds to power stations—blurring the line between warfront and homefront.

The Road Ahead: Navigating the Digital Battlefield

Cyberwarfare’s landscape is evolving at breakneck speed, fueled by technological leaps and shifting geopolitics. The stakes are high: a major cyberattack could disrupt economies, topple governments, or even cost lives.

Defending against this invisible war requires a multi-layered approach:

• Building cyber resilience across public and private sectors
• Harnessing AI responsibly while managing its risks
• Establishing global cyber norms to prevent runaway conflicts
• Cultivating skilled professionals and informed citizens
• Integrating cybersecurity into the DNA of emerging technologies
• Grappling with the ethical and legal complexities inherent to digital conflict

The future winners in this digital battlefield won’t just be the nations with the strongest tech, but those agile enough to adapt, collaborate, and innovate rapidly. Cyberwarfare demands a new kind of toughness—one that blends technology, policy, ethics, and people.

If you think physical wars are messy and unpredictable, just wait until digital battlefields become the norm. The only way forward is to face the chaos head-on and build defenses that can survive whatever the cyber storm throws next.