- Iran-linked hacking group Handala claimed responsibility for a major cyberattack on US medical giant Stryker, allegedly wiping 200,000 devices and stealing 50TB of data.
- The group cited the attack as retaliation for a military strike on a school in Minab, Iran, marking an escalation in cyber warfare following recent US-Israeli actions.
- While Stryker confirmed
An Iran-linked hacking group said it targeted the US medical technology giant Stryker, one of the world's largest medical device companies, on Wednesday, claiming complete responsibility for the breach. The group asserted that it extracted 50 terabytes of data and stated that the information is "now in the hands of the free people of the world."
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The group, known as Handala, described the digital assault as retribution for "the brutal attack on the Minab school" in Iran, in which around 150 people were reportedly killed. In a statement, the hackers said, "Our major cyber operation has been executed with complete success." The Michigan-based company confirmed the incident, and staff reported that Handala's logo appeared on company login pages.
Laptops and mobile phones connected to Stryker's networks were reportedly wiped automatically during the attack. While issuing a warning, the group cited the wipe, stating, "This is only the beginning of a new chapter in cyber warfare."
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“The company is 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," Stryker said in a released statement.
Another cyberattack was claimed by the Handala group later on the point-of-sale payments company Verifone. The company told AFP that it closely monitors its operations worldwide and is aware of threat actors claiming to have accessed its systems in Israel. While denying the claim, the company said, "Verifone has found no evidence of any incident related to this claim and has no service disruption to our clients."
"They are the most notorious group affiliated with the Iranian regime," Gil Messing, head of cyber intelligence at Israel-based Check Point, said of Handala. "We have been tracking them for years," he told AFP.
In recent weeks, Handala has also claimed a series of attacks on Israeli and Gulf-region security. The group has repeatedly asserted responsibility for breaches of Israeli security, including claims of gaining full access to Jerusalem's security cameras.
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