On the morning of 11 March, employees at Stryker, one of the world’s largest medical device companies, watched their phones and laptops go blank.
An Iran-linked hacking group called Handala quickly claimed responsibility, saying the cyber-attack was retaliation for US military strikes on Iran.
The fact that the devices of a major conglomerate with over 50,000 employees can be wiped back to factory settings demonstrates just how easily an attack like this can happen.
It also shows that cyber security must become a priority for businesses and governments alike, as threats can come from anywhere, at any time.
The Stryker cyber-attack is just one recent example. By 2031, ransomware attacks on governments, businesses, consumers, and devices will occur every two seconds.
Worryingly, according to the former US Deputy National Security Advisor for cyber and emerging technologies, the annual average cost of cybercrime will cross $23 trillion in 2027.
The numbers are astounding yet many think that it is just big tech and conglomerates that are targeted by cybercriminals. They could not be more wrong.
Cyber intelligence to respond to the growing threat
In 2025, nearly half of businesses and three-in-ten charities in the UK reported having experienced some kind of cyber security breach or attack. Financial losses can be significant, but businesses also lose customer trust because of breaches, impacting their reputation.
Governments too are targets. In August 2025 an attack on Canada’s House of Commons exposed employee data and details of government devices.
Organizations must embrace cyber intelligence to protect themselves. But what exactly is cyber intelligence?
At its core, it is the collection, analysis and management of information related to digital threats. Instead of reacting when something goes wrong, cyber intelligence helps organizations anticipate attacks and build stronger cyber defenses.
In practice, this means organizations will be more likely to detect cyber threats before they become major incidents, minimizing any potential damage.
And as AI continues to develop at record speed, cyber intelligence is becoming more important.
“AI is supercharging the cyberthreat landscape”: Rotem Farkash
AI tools are both a powerful defense and a dangerous weapon for the industry. Cyber intelligence and AI expert Rotem Farkash argues that “AI-powered tools can help organizations identify, prevent, and respond to cyber threats, but criminals are wholeheartedly embracing AI too, leveraging it to launch attacks like phishing and social engineering.”
What makes this particularly worrying, Farkash added, “is that if cybercriminals invest more in their AI attack tools than organizations do in their protection, they will be even more vulnerable than they have been in the past. AI is supercharging the cyber threat landscape.”
Rotem Farkash’s concern is well-founded. By early 2025, over 80 per cent of social engineering attacks, where attackers trick individuals into sharing sensitive information, spreading malware, or breaking security procedures, leveraged AI.
Defending critical national infrastructure from hackers
Concerningly, national critical infrastructure is on the line all over the world. According to Industrial Cyber, in the EU in 2025 public administration was the most targeted sector by cyber-attacks, with transport emerging as a rising high-value target.
In March 2025, Cyber Energia revealed that UK renewables companies faced up to 1,000 attempted cyberattacks per day and that only 1 per cent of wind energy firms have adequate cyber protection.
What better way to cause disruption than shutting off a country’s water supply or switching off its lights? No need to drop expensive bombs, simply send off a line of code from anywhere in the world.
Cybercrime is state sponsored: Iran, China, and North Korea
Cybercrime is not solely the domain of individual hackers or organized ransomware groups. Nation states are active and the most well-resourced participants.
North Korean government hackers are attributed to large-scale cryptocurrency theft used to fund the regime, while Chinese state-sponsored actors have proven particularly dangerous through the campaign known as Salt Typhoon.
Since at least 2021, this operation has targeted organizations in critical sectors including government, telecommunications, transportation, hospitality, and military infrastructure globally, particularly in the US and UK.
Cause for concern: lack of cybersecurity preparation across society
Even more concerning is that organizations are badly prepared. Only three per cent globally have the ‘mature’ level of readiness needed to be resilient against today’s cybersecurity risks and it took an average of 277 days for businesses to identify and report a data breach.
Action to respond to the global cyberthreat
Cybersecurity can no longer be ignored. Cyber-attacks are targeting business and governments of every size every day. Organizations are not prepared, AI is causing threats to evolve rapidly, and the cost to a breach is enormous.
To avoid becoming the next victim of a cyber-attack, embrace cyber intelligence. The time to act is now.
Read more:
Stryker hack shows cyber intelligence is more important than ever
