DOHA, March 16. /TASS/. Hacker group Handala has deleted 12 petabytes of information in a cyberattack against the American medical technology company Stryker, Iran’s Press TV reported citing the hackers.
According to their statement, "over 200,000 of the company’s critical systems" were targeted in the attack. The hackers said just a few hours were required to erase 12 petabytes, or over 12,000 terabytes of data," which took "years to collect and billions of dollars to protect." They also warned that it was "just the beginning."
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States experienced "the most significant wartime cyberattack" in its history. The Handala group, which claimed credit for the Stryker hack, identifies itself as an independent entity. However, Western cybersecurity experts and US officials say it is linked to the Iranian government. The company said the hackers might have accessed remote control of its devices, allowing them to erase data on tens of thousands of devices.
The newspaper spoke with experts, who believe the hack could be linked to the US and Israeli aggression against Iran. The two countries launched a military operation against the Islamic Republic on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.