Stryker's Cork plants have been impacted by a worldwide hacking incident. It's understood that the accounts of Stryker employees globally, including thousands in Cork, were affected this morning.

There are reports that the US medical company's internal login and admin pages for workers were defaced with the logo of Handala, an Iranian 'hacktivist' group believed to be behind the cyberattack. It's also understood that many employees have had their device data wiped and cannot access their accounts.

The Iranian-linked hacking group also claimed responsibility today for hacking Israel's Academy of the Hebrew Language website.

A spokesperson for Stryker told Cork Beo: "We are currently experiencing a global network disruption affecting the Windows environment. Our teams are actively working to restore systems and operations as quickly as possible. Stryker has business continuity measures in place, and we're committed to continuing to serve our customers."

In a message to Cork staff, Stryker said it is "experiencing a severe, global disruption impacting all Stryker laptops and systems that connect to our network."

Worldwide, the company employs tens of thousands of workers. Stryker staff across Ireland, the US, Australia, and India have taken to social media and specialist tech forums to share alerts and reports of widespread system outages.

Cork is Stryker's biggest hub outside the US. The Michigan-based firm operates six medical device R&D and manufacturing facilities in Cork, including major operations in Carrigtwohill. Stryker began operations in Cork in 1998 with 20 employees and just one site. Today, Styrker employs over 5,000 people in Ireland.

The Irish facilities recently achieved milestones, celebrating the production of one million Triathlon knees and marking a decade of success in 3D printed cementless tibial baseplate manufacturing.