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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Central Ohio is a hub for data centers, a hot-button topic in communities across the state. On Wednesday, Columbus City Council heard from stakeholders and experts about the impacts, both positive and negative, that data centers can have. Council did not consider any policy changes at a hearing on Wednesday; instead, [...]

Joel and fanny pack of love.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A nonprofit agency has taken to social media to clarify its relationship with a podcaster allegedly involved in the resignation of Ohio State University's president. On Wednesday, JobsOhio posted to X a lengthy explaination it said was all of the agency's dealings with Krisanthe Vlachos and The Callout Podcast, a podcast [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Four days after the sudden resignation of Ted Carter, Ohio State University has chosen its next president. NBC4 confirmed through two sources on Wednesday night that the university will elevate Executive Vice President and Provost Ravi V. Bellamkonda to become its 18th full-time president. Bellamkonda will be named in a board [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Whenever there's a chance for strong or severe weather, first responders, emergency management agencies, and other safety leaders work to keep residents as safe as possible. “Any time there is a watch or warning impacting weather for Franklin County or the six surrounding counties, our staff will occupy this room," Jeff [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A new bill in the Ohio Statehouse would exempt tipped workers from having to pay income taxes on gratuities. The move follows a similar provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress last summer, allowing service workers to deduct tips from their federal income taxes. House Bill 209, sponsored [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Sen. Jon Husted testified in the corruption trial of former FirstEnergy executives on Wednesday morning. Husted, a Republican, was Ohio's lieutenant governor when House Bill 6 passed and admits he actively promoted the legislation, which was at the heart of Ohio's largest-ever bribery scandal. Husted testified he did not know about [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Columbus police officer facing a strangulation charge has been fired from the department. According to a Columbus police spokesperson, former officer Jacob Smith, 50, of Columbus, was relieved of duty on Tuesday following a disciplinary hearing. Court records show Smith got into an argument after eating dinner in Polaris on [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio State University will announce a new leader Thursday morning in a previously unscheduled board of trustees meeting. Ohio State will enter its fourth day without a president following former president Ted Carter's abrupt resignation due to an "inappropriate relationship" with a podcaster seeking public resources to support her personal business. [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A man arrested after allegedly shooting a teenager at an east Columbus Metropolitan Library branch was in court Wednesday afternoon. Marsean Bowles is facing one count of felonious assault with a weapons specification, plus one count of improper handling a firearm. The charges stem from a shooting in the parking lot [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A new statewide poll shows a close U.S. Senate race in Ohio, with Democrat Sherrod Brown narrowly leading Republican Jon Husted and voters citing insurance costs as their top healthcare concern. The survey of 600 likely voters, conducted March 3-8 by OnMessage Public Strategies for the Insurance Watchdog Coalition, found Brown [...]

A hacktivist group with links to Iran’s intelligence agencies is claiming responsibility for a data-wiping attack against Stryker, a global medical technology company based in Michigan. News reports out of Ireland, Stryker’s largest hub outside of the United States, said the company sent home more than 5,000 workers there today. Meanwhile, a voicemail message at Stryker’s main U.S. headquarters says the company is currently experiencing a building emergency.

In a lengthy statement posted to Telegram, an Iranian hacktivist group known as Handala (a.k.a. Handala Hack Team) claimed that Stryker’s offices in 79 countries have been forced to shut down after the group erased data from more than 200,000 systems, servers and mobile devices.

A manifesto posted by the Iran-backed hacktivist group Handala, claiming a mass data-wiping attack against medical technology maker Stryker.

“All the acquired data is now in the hands of the free people of the world, ready to be used for the true advancement of humanity and the exposure of injustice and corruption,” a portion of the Handala statement reads.

The group said the wiper attack was in retaliation for a Feb. 28 missile strike that hit an Iranian school and killed at least 175 people, most of them children. The New York Times reports today that an ongoing military investigation has determined the United States is responsible for the deadly Tomahawk missile strike.

Handala was one of several Iran-linked hacker groups recently profiled by Palo Alto Networks, which links it to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). Palo Alto says Handala surfaced in late 2023 and is assessed as one of several online personas maintained by Void Manticore, a MOIS-affiliated actor.

Stryker’s website says the company has 56,000 employees in 61 countries. A phone call placed Wednesday morning to the media line at Stryker’s Michigan headquarters sent this author to a voicemail message that stated, “We are currently experiencing a building emergency. Please try your call again later.”

A report Wednesday morning from the Irish Examiner said Stryker staff are now communicating via WhatsApp for any updates on when they can return to work. The story quoted an unnamed employee saying anything connected to the network is down, and that “anyone with Microsoft Outlook on their personal phones had their devices wiped.”

“Multiple sources have said that systems in the Cork headquarters have been ‘shut down’ and that Stryker devices held by employees have been wiped out,” the Examiner reported. “The login pages coming up on these devices have been defaced with the Handala logo.”

Wiper attacks usually involve malicious software designed to overwrite any existing data on infected devices. But a trusted source with knowledge of the attack who spoke on condition of anonymity told KrebsOnSecurity the perpetrators in this case appear to have used a Microsoft service called Microsoft Intune to issue a ‘remote wipe’ command against all connected devices.

Intune is a cloud-based solution built for IT teams to enforce security and data compliance policies, and it provides a single, web-based administrative console to monitor and control devices regardless of location. The Intune connection is supported by this Reddit discussion on the Stryker outage, where several users who claimed to be Stryker employees said they were told to uninstall Intune urgently.

Palo Alto says Handala’s hack-and-leak activity is primarily focused on Israel, with occasional targeting outside that scope when it serves a specific agenda. The security firm said Handala also has taken credit for recent attacks against fuel systems in Jordan and an Israeli energy exploration company.

“Recent observed activities are opportunistic and ‘quick and dirty,’ with a noticeable focus on supply-chain footholds (e.g., IT/service providers) to reach downstream victims, followed by ‘proof’ posts to amplify credibility and intimidate targets,” Palo Alto researchers wrote.

The Handala manifesto posted to Telegram referred to Stryker as a “Zionist-rooted corporation,” which may be a reference to the company’s 2019 acquisition of the Israeli company OrthoSpace.

This is a developing story. Updates will be noted with a timestamp.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- College sports could face imminent changes again, but those changes could be enacted by the federal government. A panel of college sports leaders and figures convened at the White House on Friday with President Donald Trump to discuss regulation in college athletics. Among the topics was Name, Image, and Likeness rules [...]

A 6,558 square foot estate located in the exclusive Ebrington development of New Albany, Ohio, featuring six bedrooms, six bathrooms, dual offices, a gourmet kitchen, and a spa-like primary suite, is available for purchase for just under $2.6 million.

GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio (WCMH) – Sexton’s Pizza is celebrating its 10th anniversary by launching a new location, in Grandview Heights, and offering discounted pies at all of its locations. The pizzeria, known for its crispy, New York-style pies, began welcoming customers on Wednesday morning at The Little Grand food hall, at 710 Grandview Crossing Way. [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- President Donald Trump said he would not sign any bills into law until the SAVE America Act passes, bringing sweeping limitations to voting for Ohioans. Trump said the SAVE America Act is his "No. 1 priority" and said he would not accept a "watered-down" version of the bill, which changes election [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Ohio lawmakers are progressing a proposal that aims to make it easier to prosecute human traffickers, in a move supporters say the state is “dead last” in making. House Bill 507, introduced by Reps. Marilyn John (R-Richland) and Johnathan Newman (R-Troy) in October, would create a new felony offense for knowingly [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — One person is dead and another is in custody after a stabbing late Tuesday night in west Columbus. According to Columbus police, one person was hospitalized in critical condition with at least one stab wound, while another was detained after a reported stabbing in the 1700 block of Sullivant Avenue in [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- By the time he departed from Ohio State University this week, former university president Ted Carter will have received more than $4.6 million from the school over three years. Carter, 66, resigned abruptly over the weekend after an "inappropriate relationship with someone seeking public resources to support her personal business." The [...]