An Iranian-linked hacker group has claimed responsibility for a March 11 cyberattack targeting Stryker, a Michigan-based medical technology company, in retaliation for U.S. and Israel military strikes on Iran.
Known as Handala Team, the hacker group said on social media that it carried out the cyberattack affecting 200,000 systems, servers and mobile devices “in retaliation for the brutal attack on the Minab school and in response to ongoing cyber assaults against the infrastructure of the Axis of Resistance.”
The group stated that Stryker is a “Zionist-rooted corporation” and “a central ring in the ‘New Epstein’ chain.” It issued a “clear warning to all Zionist leaders and their lobbies who hide behind concrete walls and closed windows.”
Cybersecurity researchers have previously linked the group to Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.
Stryker, which manufactures a wide range of medical devices and hospital technologies, said on March 11 that it was “experiencing a global network disruption to our Microsoft environment as a result of a cyberattack.”
On March 12, the company said the situation was “contained to our internal Microsoft environment only.”
Handala Hack has previously claimed responsibility for compromising an Israeli energy exploration company and Jordan’s fuel systems. It claimed to “target Israeli civilian health care to create domestic pressure just days before the kinetic war broke out,” according to researchers at Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42.
Unit 42 reported that U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 triggered a retaliatory campaign that includes cyber operations by state-linked and sympathetic “hacktivist” groups.”
