A sophisticated cyberattack has disrupted the global networks of Stryker, one of the world's largest medical device manufacturers, knocking out Windows-based devices including laptops and mobile phones connected to the company's systems. The Iran-linked hacking group Handala, with documented ties to Tehran, claimed responsibility for the attack, warning it marks "the beginning of a new chapter in cyber warfare".
Handala stated it carried out the attack in retaliation for a strike on a school in the southern Iranian city of Minab on the first day of the US-Israeli military war against Iran, which killed over 170 people, mostly schoolgirls. An investigation by Al Jazeera's Digital Investigations Unit, analyzing satellite imagery, found that the school was possibly deliberately targeted, raising serious questions about the conduct of the US-led coalition.
The Michigan-based company confirmed it was "experiencing a global network disruption to our Microsoft environment as a result of a cyberattack," adding it had found no evidence of ransomware or malware and believed the incident was contained. Staff reported that Handala's logo had appeared on company login pages, while calls to Stryker's headquarters in Portage, Michigan, met a recorded message about a "building emergency," highlighting the operational chaos caused by the attack.
The hacking group claimed to have seized 50 terabytes of company data, which it alleged was "now in the hands of the free people of the world." Handala also asserted a simultaneous attack on payments company Verifone, though Verifone denied any disruption to its services, suggesting potential discrepancies in the group's claims.
This incident comes as Iran has escalated its threats against Western economic targets, with the IRGC warning this week that US and Israeli-linked "economic centres and banks" across the region are now legitimate targets. State-affiliated media published a list of US tech firms, including Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia, describing their regional infrastructure as "Iran's new targets," signaling a dangerous expansion of the conflict into the cyber and economic domains.
An Iranian security source told Al Jazeera's Tohid Asadi that the conflict is entering "a new phase," hinting that another key regional waterway could face restrictions similar to those threatened by Tehran on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, though declining to elaborate further. In response to the school strike, six senior Democratic senators in the United States have called for an investigation, saying in a joint statement they were "horrified" by the incident, yet the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity agency did not respond to requests for comment, reflecting the fragmented and often ineffective response of the US regime to such crises.
Source: www.aljazeera.com