Medical device giant hit by global network disruption after cyberattack possibly linked to pro-Iranian group

Michigan-based medical device company Stryker announced on Thursday it is experiencing a “global network disruption” to its Microsoft suite following a cyberattack that may have ties to a pro-Iranian group.

Fox News spoke to a Stryker employee based in Boise, Idaho, who confirmed the attack and said they were unable to access their network. 

The employee said they were advised to avoid connecting to any Stryker VPN networks or software on any device, and coworkers’ work phones were wiped Wednesday morning. 

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In a message to customers, Stryker confirmed it is experiencing a global network disruption to its Microsoft environment as a result of a cyberattack. 

“We have no indication of ransomware or malware and believe the incident is contained,” Stryker wrote. “Our teams are working rapidly to understand the impact of the attack on our systems.”

A pro-Iranian hacktivist group later took to social media to claim responsibility for the cyberattack. 

The hackers, who alleged Stryker was a “Zionist-rooted corporation,” claimed 200,000 systems were affected and 50 terabytes of data were extracted.

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Stryker has not yet confirmed the group’s involvement.

The same hacking group claimed to have breached New York City-based company Verifone, which provides technology for electronic payment transactions to 75% of the top retailers, according to the company’s website.

A spokesperson for Verifone told FOX Business the claims are false.

“Verifone closely monitors the security and integrity of its systems worldwide,” the spokesperson said. “We have observed recent allegations on March 11 from threat actors claiming an intrusion into our systems in Israel. Verifone has found no evidence of any incident related to this claim and has no service disruption to our clients.” 

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Stryker did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.