What happened at Stryker? Everything you need to know about cyber attack

The global medical technology company Stryker is hit by a major cyber attack, which is allegedly linked to Iranian hackers.

Iranian-linked hacking group Handala claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack occurred overnight, causing a “severe, global disruption” to the company’s IT systems, disrupting operations across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Thousands of employees, including 5,000 staff at Stryker’s largest international hub at Cork, Ireland, have been left unable to work.

The experts have identified the incident as a “wiper” attack, which is considered an aggressive form of cyber assault.

Such a cyber attack is capable of permanently destroying data on targeted systems instead of holding it for ransom.

Beyond employees’ work devices, personal phones with company profiles of the employees had also been wiped out, multiple sources confirmed.

The logo of Handala appeared on the internal login pages.

The attack comes amid escalated geopolitical tensions, with Handala also claiming responsibility for targeting Israel’s Academy of the Hebrew Language.

Analysts suggest that the attack on Stryker occurred due to business ties with Israel.

Confirming the incident, a Stryker spokesperson confirmed: “We are currently experiencing a global network disruption affecting the Windows environment. Our teams are actively working to restore systems and operations as quickly as possible.”

National Cyber Security Centre of Ireland has been notified and is responding to the incident.