An Iran-linked hacking group has claimed responsibility for a massive cyberattack on the United States medical technology company, Stryker. Hackers claimed they had stolen 50 terabytes of data, calling it a retaliation for military strikes on Iran and the Minab school attack that left over 170 dead, mostly school girls
The group, Handala, described the operation as a “major cyber operation executed with complete success,” targeting US infrastructure, news agency AFP reported. Stryker confirmed a global network disruption in its Microsoft environment, but said there was no sign of ransomware or malware and the incident appeared contained.
However, in its statement, Handala said all extracted data was "now in the hands of the free people of the world." It issued a warning to what it described as "Zionist leaders and their lobbies," adding, "This is only the beginning of a new chapter in cyber warfare."
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"They are the most notorious group affiliated with the Iranian regime," Gil Messing, head of cyber intelligence at Israel-based Check Point, noted about Handala.
Founded in Michigan, Stryker is a global medical device company with 56,000 employees and $25 billion in revenue in 2025. It specialises in making implants, surgical tools, hospital beds and robotic systems. According to the Wall Street Journal, the network outages began around 0400 GMT (9:30 a.m. IST) on Wednesday.
What Is A Wiper Attack?
According to cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, wiper is a type of malware that permanently deletes or corrupts data on targeted systems. When successful, they can make computers and networks unusable and cause permanent data loss.
Unlike ransomware, which locks data for money, wiper attacks aim to destroy data completely. These attacks surface particularly during geopolitical conflicts or by hacktivists to make a statement.
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In the case of Stryker cyber attacks as well, its windows devices—including laptops and mobile phones connected to Stryker's networks—were remotely wiped, the AFP report added.
Can Stryker Corp Recover?
If Handala has indeed successfully stolen 50 terabytes of data from Stryker, it could expose sensitive medical, operational and employee information. This could pose serious security and privacy risks and irreversible damage.
However, Stryker maintains that despite a global system disruption, there is no evidence of ransomware or malware and the incident is contained. Whether Stryker is truly impacted or not remains to be confirmed. However, based on the available information, recovery of potentially lost data for Stryker will depend on the availability of secure backups and the time it needs to restore affected systems.
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