a global cyber attack Stryker was affected, affecting employee accounts globally, including thousands of workers at its Cork factory, the Irish Examiner reported. Hackers reportedly replaced the internal login page with the following logo it will disappear. According to reports, many employees were also unable to access their accounts after the data on their devices was wiped.
Stryker suffered cyber attack: “Wiper” attack caused system shutdown
The medical technology company, which employs up to 5,000 people in Ireland and whose Irish headquarters is in Cork, was the target of what sources described as a “wiper” cyber attack. In such an attack, the data on the target IT system is completely deleted and cannot be recovered.
The National Cyber Security Center in Dublin is aware of the incident and is responding to the incident. Wiper attacks are considered very serious because they are often politically motivated rather than for financial gain.
Systems at the Cork headquarters were “shut down” and devices used by employees were wiped during the attack, the Irish Examiner reported. The login page on affected devices is also corrupted with the Handala logo.
The Handala Hack is associated with the Iranian regime, which is currently engaged in a military and economic war in response to U.S. and Israeli bombing of the country. The group also claimed to have hacked the Hebrew Language Institute’s website, the Jerusalem Post reported.
International technology media reported that the group also sabotaged multiple oil and gas facilities in Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Israel’s National Cyber Directorate said it has been trying to intercept a wave of Iranian cyberattacks targeting Israeli civilian companies in recent days.
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Stryker employees stop work, production affected
The shutdown has a significant financial impact on Stryker as the attack disrupted technology used to manufacture its medical products and devices. The company is currently working to resume production of the affected machines. Some manufacturing machines in Cork are still running, but it is unclear how long they will continue to operate.
A Stryker spokesman told the Irish Examiner that efforts were underway to restore the system.
“We are currently experiencing a global network outage affecting Windows environments. Our teams are actively working to restore systems and operations as quickly as possible. Stryker has appropriate business continuity measures in place and we are committed to continuing to serve our customers.”
Employees are now sharing updates through WhatsApp groups, while employees are being warned not to use applications such as Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Teams to connect to the network until the system is restored.
“We know this situation creates uncertainty. Please know that our teams are actively working with security experts and law enforcement to resolve this issue,” the statement said.
“Our employees and our sites are safe. We are focused on our customers and the patients they serve while ensuring the continuity of their and our own operations.
“As we work to restore our systems, please stay focused and follow the guidance of your leaders.”
Stryker said its team is working to restore systems and operations as quickly as possible. The company has also implemented business continuity measures as network outages continue.