Medical technology firm Boston Scientific has been hit with a cyber attack that has severely disrupted global operations.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the MedTech company said the incident was first detected on 25 August.
The attack resulted in a network outage, meaning the company only has limited access to certain systems and applications.
Boston Scientific supplies a range of devices used in cardiac care, endoscopy, and urology and reported $5.4 billion in net sales during the second quarter of 2026.
According to the firm, as soon as it detected the breach it activated its incident response protocols and began an investigation to assess and contain the threat with the help of third-party cybersecurity experts.
The company is in the process of restoring affected functions and reinstating access to systems, but that there's as yet no timeline for a full restoration.
“The incident has caused, and is expected to continue to cause, disruptions and limitations of access to certain of the Company’s information systems and business applications that support aspects of the Company’s operations, including the ability to process and ship customer orders,” the filing reads.
Who’s behind the Boston Scientific cyber attack?
As of yet, there’s no information on the initial access method used by the hackers, nor the type of attack, who may have carried it out, or what data may have been accessed.
Ross Filipek, CISO at Corsica Technologies, said at this stage the company will be prioritizing containment and establishing how the threat actor(s) gained access.
"Security teams need constant visibility into what was affected and which systems are safe to bring back online," Filipek commented.
"In healthcare, downtime carries operational consequences quickly. Strong incident response has to protect the environment while helping the business restore critical services as safely and efficiently as possible.”
Healthcare in the crosshairs
The Boston Scientific breach marks the latest in a string of attacks on major medical device manufacturers, with Stryker, Medtronic, and Abbott all having disclosed cyber incidents in recent months.
In March, Stryker was hit in an attack claimed by Iranian-linked threat group Handala, which claimed to have wiped thousands of systems across the company’s global operations and stolen around 50 terabytes of data.
A month later, the notorious ShinyHunters group claimed responsibility for an attack on the world’s largest medical device maker Medtronic. Just last month, cancer diagnostics device supplier Abbott said it had detected unauthorized access to some internal systems.
Dray Agha, senior manager of security operations at Huntress, said the data used by healthcare and medical technology providers makes them prime targets for cyber criminals.
“This is an unfortunate ripple effect on the healthcare supply chain. The attack on Boston Scientific demonstrates that cyber incidents in the MedTech sector extend far beyond IT and actively threaten the global healthcare supply chain," Agha said.
"When a major manufacturer is paralysed and unable to process or ship medical orders, the disruption creates immediate ripple effects that can ultimately delay critical treatments and impact patient care down the line."
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