How an Iranian-backed group crippled Stryker’s Irish HQ with a ‘wiper’ cyberattack

Staff sent home as Iranian-backed hacktivists shut down some of Stryker's systems and wipe some staff members' phones

Stryker has eight sites in Ireland including Limerick, Belfast, and Cork — where it has five manufacturing plants and three innovation centres at Anngrove (pictured), Springhill, and Tullagreen near Carrigtwohill; Macroom; and Model Farm Rd in Cork City. File picture

A global medical device company with over 4,000 employees in Cork and another 1,400 across the island of Ireland was crippled on Wednesday by a cyberattack claimed by an Iranian-backed group.

This type of attack is known as a 'wiper attack' where the goal is to destroy IT systems and erase data on them.