Stryker stock down, medical equipment maker’s systems defaced by cyber attack linked to pro-Iran hackers Handala

Medical equipment maker Stryker was allegedly hit with an Iran-linked cyber attack on Wednesday right after midnight ET, causing a global outage across its system, with staff and contractors saying a logo of an Iran-linked group appeared on the login page, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news.

Shares of the Michigan-based global medical technology company (SYK) were down nearly 4% in early afternoon trading on Wednesday at the time of this writing.

What happened?

According to the report, staff said cellphones, laptops, and other devices that run on Microsoft’s Windows operating system to connect ​to Stryker’s ​technology ⁠systems had been wiped.

Fast Company has reached out to Stryker for comment and further details.

The logo, which allegedly appeared on login pages, was for Handala, a pro-Iran and pro-Palestinian hacking group, the WSJ article reported.

On one Reddit thread, a user posted “My wife had 3 Stryker managed devices wiped around 3:30 AM EDT. Their Entra login page was defaced with the Handala logo, it’s still up as of this post.” On that same thread, another user replied “Yep! Woke up to wiped computer and phone, low key thought they finally fired me lol.”

Handala was also behind a breach of the Academy of the Hebrew Language’s website on Wednesday, according to The Jerusalem Post, which reported that the group posted the message, “There is no need to learn Hebrew anymore. You won’t need it for much longer.”

Stryker has offices in the U.S. and in the Middle Eastern countries of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Both countries have been targeted by Tehran as it retaliates against U.S.-Israeli strikes in the war with Iran. That war is in its 12th day.

What is Stryker Corporation?

Stryker is one of the world’s leading medical technology (or medtech) companies. It develops medical, surgical, and neurotechnology products and services, impacting more than 150 million patients a year.

The company was founded in 1941 by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Homer Stryker in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where it is still based. The company has U.S. offices in Michigan, Minnesota, California, and internationally.

Stryker financials

Stryker reported strong fourth-quarter earnings for 2025, beating expectations with adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $4.47 versus an expected $4.39; and revenue of $7.2 billion, beating analyst expectations of $7.12 billion.

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