A cyberattack on a U.S.-based manufacturer of medical equipment, Stryker, has heightened concerns that Iran or hacking groups linked to it might target civilian companies and infrastructure as the war continues.
Stryker has not said who was behind the attack, which disrupted its systems around the world on Wednesday. But a hacker group appeared to take responsibility for it, calling it retaliation for a missile strike on an Iranian elementary school.
Stryker, a Michigan-based company that makes a wide range of medical equipment, said on Thursday that it was still trying to restore its communications and ordering systems. It said the hack seemed to be contained to its Microsoft programs, adding that there was “no indication of malware or ransomware.”
“It is safe to communicate with Stryker employees and sales representatives by email and phone, and within your facility,” the company said. Stryker has customers in 61 countries, according to its website.
An organization of hackers calling itself Handala claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on social media on Wednesday. The statement said the hack was retaliation for a Feb. 28 missile strike on an elementary school in southern Iran, which Iranian officials said killed at least 175 people, most of them children.
Preliminary findings from a Pentagon investigation indicate that the U.S. military carried out the strike because of a targeting error, The New York Times reported.
Handala, which seemed to emerge a few weeks after the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began in 2023, has targeted businesses and individuals linked to Israel, according to cybersecurity firms and intelligence groups, including U.S.- and Israeli-based Cyberint and IBM’s X-Force Exchange. Since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, security firms have raised concerns that Iran or groups linked to it might engage in cyberwarfare, in some cases mentioning Handala specifically.
The statement attributed to Handala on Wednesday said the hack was partly in response to cyberattacks against the Axis of Resistance, as Iran calls its regional network of militias.
The same social media account published a statement attributed to Handala in which it claimed to have hacked Verifone, an international payments company, specifically targeting its systems in Israel. But Verifone said in an email that it had “found no evidence of any incident related to this claim” and that its clients had experienced no disruption of service.
Lynsey Chutel is a Times reporter based in London who covers breaking news in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
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