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A group of Iran-linked hackers say they have broken into the servers of U.S. medical tech giant Stryker, causing disruptions worldwide.\u00a0As of Wednesday morning, many of Stryker\u2019s global systems have been wiped, and some login pages are instead showing the logo of the hacker group.<\/p>\n
The hacktivist group, known as Handala, claimed responsibility for the attack in a message<\/a> posted on an X account purporting to belong to the group. The hackers wrote that they attacked Stryker \u201cin retaliation for the brutal attack on the Minab school and in response to ongoing cyber assaults against the infrastructure\u201d of Iran and its allies. The hackers were referring to the Minab girls school in Tehran, which the U.S. military reportedly bombed<\/a> in its recent attacks on Iran, killing more than 175 people, most of them children.<\/p>\n Stryker, which makes medical devices and technology for hospitals, does not appear to be directly linked to the recent attacks on Iran, though it has operations in Israel and did last year secure a $450 million contract<\/a> from the Department of Defense to supply medical devices to the U.S. military.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this operation, over 200,000 systems, servers, and mobile devices have been wiped and 50 terabytes of critical data have been extracted. Stryker\u2019s offices in 79 countries have been forced to shut down,\u201d the hackers wrote.<\/p>\n The hackers\u2019 claims appear to be at least partly credible. According to The Wall Street Journal<\/a>, some Stryker systems all over the world have been wiped, and others are showing the logo of the hackers group on login pages.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cStryker\u00a0is experiencing a global network disruption to our Microsoft environment as a result of a cyberattack. We have no indication of ransomware or malware and believe the incident is contained,\u201d a Stryker spokesperson told TechCrunch. \u201cOur teams are actively working to restore systems and operations as quickly as possible. Stryker has business continuity measures in place, and we\u2019re committed to continuing to serve our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStryker is currently experiencing a severe, global disruption across the Windows environment impacting both client devices and servers,\u201d read a notice sent to employees, according to the WSJ. \u201cThe issue is widespread and significantly affecting users\u2019 ability to access systems and services.\u201d<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA<\/span> The company did not immediately respond to TechCrunch\u2019s request for comment. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which responds to cyberattacks, did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n According to the IBM X-Force Exchange<\/a>, Handala emerged after Hamas\u2019 October 7 attack on Israel and has targeted Israeli civilian infrastructure, energy companies in the Gulf region, and Western organizations. \u201cIts operations focus on generating disruptive and psychological impact,\u201d the company wrote on the exchange, which tracks threat groups. \u201cHandala employs a broad and evolving toolkit, including phishing, custom wiper malware, ransomware\u2011style extortion, data theft, and hack\u2011and\u2011leak activity. Its campaigns consistently feature ideological messaging, inflated or misleading breach claims, and deliberate targeting of life\u2011critical sectors such as healthcare and energy.\u201d<\/p>\n Handala also has a website that lists and doxes dozens of Israelis who allegedly work or used to work for the Israeli Defense Forces, as well as major local defense and surveillance contractors, such as Elbit Systems and NSO Group.\u00a0<\/p>\n Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point wrote in a recent report<\/a> that since the start of the war in Iran, Handala is \u201cbreaking into low-hanging systems, conducting hack-and-leak activity, and timing the publication of stolen material to maximize pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n