Pro-Iran hacktivist group Handala claimed a cyberattack on U.S.-based medical technology company Stryker Corp. that crippled its operations, Bloomberg reported on March 11. Stryker employees are reportedly unable to work and have been told to avoid connecting to any company networks or software, and some employees said the breach wiped data on their devices.

Following a strike on the digital security center of Iran's state-run Bank Sepah in Tehran on March 11, Iran vowed to retaliate by targeting U.S. and Israeli economic and banking interests in the region, and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a list of offices and infrastructure run by U.S. companies whose technology has been used for military applications. While Stryker does not appear to have been on the IRGC's list, it nonetheless maintains ties with Israel, including by sustaining a presence in the country and acquiring multiple Israeli companies, and it has significant contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense. The company also said in a statement that it is experiencing a "global network disruption" to its "Microsoft environment," and numerous Microsoft facilities were named as targets on the IRGC's list.