An Iranian-linked hacking group has claimed responsibility for the global disruption of one of the world’s leading medical technology companies.
Michigan-based Stryker experienced a global outage on Wednesday, saying thousands of employees have lost access to work systems. It employees approximately 53,000 people globally.
The company is a leading provider in advanced medical technologies that improve healthcare outcomes, including joint replacements, robotic-assisted surgical systems, trauma and neurotechnology products.
The Handala group issued a statement on Telegram, saying it wiped more than 200,000 systems and extracted 50 terabytes of data in retaliation for military strikes on Iran.
Handala emerged around 2022 and has claimed responsibility for a number of cyberattacks against Israeli and Western targets.
The group claimed it shut down Stryker offices in 79 countries and that all extracted data is ‘now in the hands of the free people of the world.’ Stryker is active in over 100 countries around the world.
‘Our major cyber operation has been executed with complete success,’ Handala says in a statement, describing the attack as retaliation for what it calls ‘the brutal attack on the Minab school’ and for ‘ongoing cyber assaults against the infrastructure of the Axis of Resistance.’
Children between the ages of seven and 12, along with staff members, were among those who died in the school strike. There were at least 175 people present during the February attack.
An Iranian hacking group has claimed responsibility for the global disruption of Stryker, one of the world’s leading medical technology companies
The Handala hacking group said the cyberattack was retaliation for the US’s brutal attack on the Minab school’
Stryker began experience technical issues shortly after midnight on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The company’s staff found that remote devices running Microsoft’s Windows operating system, such as cellphones, laptops and others configured to connect to Stryker’s technology systems, had been wiped.
The logo of Handala appeared on login screens, according to the WSJ, which cited people familiar with the matter as well as social media posts.
The Irish Examiner reported that Stryker staff can only communicate through WhatsApp, noting employees have revealed that g anything connected to the network is down, and that ‘anyone with Microsoft Outlook on their personal phones had their devices wiped.’
Multiple sources told the outlet that systems in the Cork headquarters have been ‘shut down’ and that Stryker devices held by employees have been wiped out.’
Stryker’s outage comes as an ongoing military investigation determined today the US is responsible for the deadly Tomahawk missile strike after officials decline to say America had hit the Shajarah Tayyebeh school.
On Monday, President Donald Trump blamed Iran for the deadly airstrike that hit an all-girls’ school on the first day of the war.
The Handala group issued a statement on Telegram, saying it wiped more than 200,000 systems and extracted 50 terabytes of data in retaliation for military strikes on Iran
While speaking about the US’s attack with Iran on Saturday on board Air Force One, Trump said American troops had nothing to do with the bombing that killed 175 people, mostly children, on February 28.
Officers at US Central Command decided to strike the school using outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, one of the premier US intelligence agencies.
The deadly operation on Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school full of children is considered one of the most devastating US military errors in decades.
