U.S. medtech company Stryker hit by Iran-linked hackers

U.S. medical technology company Stryker is currently experiencing a massive cyberattack, which has shut down their computer systems and, as a result, even closed the company's offices.

An Iran-linked digital activist collective known as Handala is claiming credit for the cyberattack against Stryker. This would be the first major cyberattack carried out in the wake of the U.S. war in Iran. Cybersecurity researchers have warned that U.S. companies face an elevated threat risk, primarily from Iran-linked hacktivist groups.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the cyberattack began around midnight on Wednesday as Stryker employees watched data being wiped from company computers in real-time. The company described the attack as a "global network disruption" linked to its Microsoft environment.

During the attack, Handala's logo also appeared on the Stryker login portals, leaving employees scrambling to unplug their computers. Per the WSJ, in some of the company's departments, reportedly 95 percent of computers were wiped.

Stryker's computer network is effectively unusable as of now, and the company reportedly sent employees home and closed its corporate offices entirely.

"Stryker is experiencing a global network disruption to our Microsoft environment as a result of a cyber attack," the company said in a statement posted to its website. "We have no indication of ransomware or malware and believe the incident is contained. Our teams are working rapidly to understand the impact of the attack on our systems."

Stryker manufactures a variety of medical devices such as surgical tools and emergency service equipment. The company has 56,000 global employees and generates $25 billion in revenue each year.

Handala claimed it was launching a “new chapter in cyber warfare" with the attack on Stryker. The hacker group claimed the cyberattack was in retaliation for the bombing of an Iranian school, which Iranian officials say left 175 people, mostly children, dead. An ongoing military investigation has so far found that the U.S. is primarily at fault for the strike on the school, according to the New York Times.

The Iran-linked group said it targeted Stryker as the company works with U.S. military, having recently signed a $450 million contract for medical devices last year, and having previously acquired Israeli company OrthoSpace.