An Iran-linked hacker group has claimed responsibility for a major cyberattack against a US medical company on Wednesday, marking the first such incident since the conflict between the two nations began.
The targeted company, Stryker, based in Michigan, confirmed that the attack caused a "global network disruption" to their Microsoft applications. Stryker stated that there is no evidence of ransomware or malware, and they believe the incident is contained. The company's teams are working swiftly to assess the impact of the attack on their systems.
During the cyberattack, the logo of the Iran-linked hacking group, Handala, was displayed on company login pages, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Handala Team later claimed responsibility for the hacking in a statement on X and Telegram, asserting that they had accessed 50 terabytes of "critical data" from Stryker. They mentioned that all the data is with "free people," in response to the killing of at least 175 schoolgirls in Minab during US-Israel military-led strikes on Iran.
The "hacktivist" group, known to have emerged in 2022, has been associated with Iran by various threat intelligence companies. The Journal noted that the group had previously claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on Israeli companies and in the Gulf region.
An employee at Stryker informed NBC News that the disruption caused work-issued phones to cease functioning, resulting in operations being effectively halted at the company, which employs 56,000 individuals. Some employees' devices also experienced data loss due to the attack.
In a communication sent to employees and obtained by the Journal, Stryker advised staff to be cautious of suspicious links and instructed them to remove mobile device management apps and work profiles from their cellphones. The notice highlighted that the issue is widespread and significantly impacting users' access to systems and services.
The method used for the cyberattack and the accuracy of Handala's claims regarding the acquired data remain unclear. Neither Stryker nor Microsoft has responded immediately to requests for further details.
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