Ahold Delhaize takes some systems offline after cybersecurity incident

[Scott98]

Ahold Delhaize, one of the world's biggest food retailers, has taken some internal systems offline after a cybersecurity incident. BleepingComputer reports that the company runs more than 9,400 stores in Europe, the United States and Indonesia. Its brands include Albert Heijn, Delhaize, Food Lion, Stop & Shop and Hannaford

The scale is huge. Ahold Delhaize employs nearly 400,000 people, serves around 60 million customers a week and reported more than $104 billion in net sales in 2024. A press release said the company is assessing and containing the issue and that its stores remain open and serving customers

Several effects have been reported so far. Stop & Shop staff in the US could not see their schedules or pay slips. In the Netherlands and Belgium, customers could not use the websites, apps or customer service of Albert Heijn, Etos, Gall & Gall and Delhaize. An internal Food Lion memo described an IT outage and warned stores might not be able to fulfil some orders

A spokesperson declined to say whether store systems were affected, whether the disruption is worldwide, or whether any devices were encrypted. That caution is normal early in an investigation. It is also the group's second major incident in recent years, after a November 2024 attack in which data on more than 2.2 million people was stolen

Keeping stores open is the most important thing for customers, and it sounds like the company has managed that. Online shopping and staff systems will take time to restore. Hopefully the investigation moves quickly and staff can access their pay information soon

Have you been affected as a customer or employee? And what can retailers do to stop these incidents happening again?

Retail giant Ahold Delhaize takes systems offline after cyberattackwww.bleepingcomputer.com