The cyberattack that reportedly caused the global outage at Stryker began Wednesday morning, according to the Wall Street Journal, though the company says it is over.
“We announce to the world that, in retaliation for the brutal attack on the Minab school and in response to the ongoing cyber attacks against the infrastructure of the Axis of Resistance, our major cyber operation has been carried out with complete success,” the hackers said in a statement published online.
The hacking group called Stryker a “Zionist-rooted corporation” and “a central ring in the ‘new Epstein’ chain.” The group claims it wiped 50 terabytes of critical data, which could not be independently confirmed.
The group continued in its statement, “A clear warning to all Zionist leaders and their lobbies hiding behind concrete walls and closed windows: The era of the ‘Epstein’ rings and the demons of our time is over.”
Epstein appears to be a reference to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was President Donald Trump’s “best friend” and died in prison in 2019.
Stryker has more than 53,000 employees globally and had $22.6 billion in revenue in 2024, according to Bleeping Computer, which also notes that devices used with the company’s mobile device management system were remotely wiped.
Stryker filed a Form 8-K with the SEC on Wednesday, confirming that the company has been cyberattacked, but claiming there is “no indication of ransomware or malware and it believes the incident has been contained.”
“The company’s investigation into the cybersecurity incident is ongoing, and the full scope, nature and impact of the incident, including operational and financial impacts, are not yet known,” the filing said. “Accordingly, the Company has not yet determined whether this incident is reasonably likely to have a material impact on the Company.”
The cyber attack is a notable development in the cyber warfare between the US and Iran that is inevitably part of any modern conflict. Israel and the US first launched unprovoked attacks against Iran on February 28, killing much of the country’s top leadership, including the Supreme Leader. But there had not yet been any cyber attack from Iran against American interests.
Iran has fought back against US and Israeli attacks with its own drones and missiles, including strikes against oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. About 20% of the world’s oil passes through the region, which is effectively closed.
Iranian semi-official news outlet Tasnim News Agency reports that US tech companies will be targeted in the Middle East, including Microsoft, Google, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia and Oracle offices.
Handala also announced an attack against electronic payments company Verifone, which the hacking group refers to as Israeli. Verifone is based in New York. While the group posted screenshots claiming to show Verifone’s internal systems, those images could not be verified.
Handala has attempted to set up at least two separate X accounts to make announcements on Wednesday, but they have been suspended, according to the group’s Telegram account.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the missile attack on Shajrah Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran, was carried out by the US and may have been the result of outdated information. The school building used to be part of a nearby military facility but has not been attached to the base for at least a decade.
There is widespread speculation that AI could be responsible for the attack, but the Times suggests this is unlikely and suggests “human error” may be to blame in the ongoing investigation.
According to the Times, more than 175 people, mostly children, were killed in the attack on the school. Since the start of the war, at least 1,800 people have been killed in both Iran and Lebanon, where Israel is also carrying out daily attacks.
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