An Iran-linked hacking group said on Wednesday that it carried out a cyberattack on U.S. medical technology giant Stryker, claiming it had extracted 50 terabytes of data in retaliation for recent military strikes on Iran. “Our major cyber operation has been executed with complete success,” the group, calling itself Handala, said in a statement.
Handala described the attack as retribution for what it called “the brutal attack on the Minab school” in Iran, where authorities said more than 150 people were killed, and for “ongoing cyber assaults against the infrastructure of the Axis of Resistance,” a loose alliance of armed groups backed by Tehran. The group added that all extracted data was “now in the hands of the free people of the world” and warned “Zionist leaders and their lobbies,” saying, “This is only the beginning of a new chapter in cyber warfare.”
Stryker confirmed it was “experiencing a global network disruption to our Microsoft environment as a result of a cyberattack,” but said it had “no indication of ransomware or malware and believe the incident is contained.” The company did not immediately provide further technical details.
The Wall Street Journal reported that outages began shortly after 0400 GMT on Wednesday and that Windows devices — including laptops and mobile phones connected to Stryker’s networks — were remotely wiped, citing people familiar with the matter. Handala later posted that it had also targeted Verifone, a provider of electronic and point-of-sale payment systems.
Verifone told AFP that it monitors operations worldwide and was aware of claims tied to its systems in Israel, but said it had “found no evidence of any incident related to this claim and has no service disruption to our clients.”
Handala, named after a figure symbolic of the Palestinian people, has claimed a string of recent attacks on Israeli and Gulf-region companies and has asserted access to Israeli infrastructure, including Jerusalem security cameras. Gil Messing, head of cyber intelligence at Israel-based Check Point, called Handala “the most notorious group affiliated with the Iranian regime” and said his team had tracked them for years. A Google Threat Intelligence report this year described the group’s activity as primarily “hack-and-leak” operations that increasingly include doxxing and fear-promoting tactics.
Founded in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Stryker is a global medical device manufacturer with about 56,000 employees and reported $25 billion in 2025 revenues. Its products range from orthopedic implants and surgical instruments to hospital beds and robotic surgery systems.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/iran-linked-hacking-group-handala-claims-cyberattack-on-us-medical-giant-stryker-middle-east-conflict-iran-us-israel-war-11203170#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-03-12 07:08:00
