Ahold Delhaize takes systems offline after security incident hits brands in Europe, US

Ahold Delhaize, one of the world's largest food retail groups, said on Monday, October 12, that it is dealing with a security issue within its network and has taken some systems offline to protect them, BleepingComputer reports. The incident has disrupted online services at several of the group's brands in Europe and the United States, although the company says its stores remain open and serving customers.

What happened

In a short press release cited by BleepingComputer, Ahold Delhaize said it is experiencing "a security issue within its network" and that its teams are working to assess and mitigate it. The company said taking some systems offline was a protective step and apologized to customers and partners for the inconvenience. BleepingComputer said its request for further comment was not answered immediately.

The company did not say what type of attack it is facing, whether both corporate and store systems were affected, or whether any devices were encrypted. According to BleepingComputer, no threat group had publicly claimed responsibility at the time of reporting, and there is no evidence that the incident is linked to the separate cyberattack on refrigeration systems at French supermarkets disclosed the same day.

Who is affected

Ahold Delhaize operates more than 9,400 stores in Europe, the United States and Indonesia, employs nearly 400,000 people and serves about 60 million customers each week, according to BleepingComputer. Its European brands include Albert Heijn, Delhaize, Maxi, Mega Image, Albert, bol, Alfa Beta, Etos, Gall & Gall and Profi; in the US it runs Food Lion, Stop & Shop, Giant Food and Hannaford.

BleepingComputer reports that customers in the Netherlands could not use websites, apps or customer service platforms at Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall, and that similar problems were reported at Delhaize in Belgium. In the US, Stop & Shop employees reported trouble accessing work schedules and pay stubs, while an internal Food Lion memo described the problem as an IT outage and warned that stores "may be unable to shop, stage, or hand off orders."

This is the second major incident for the group in recent years. In November 2024, a ransomware attack on its US systems led to the theft of personal, financial and health information of more than 2.2 million people; the INC Ransom group claimed that attack.

What to do

The company has not yet said whether customer or employee data was accessed. Customers of the affected brands should be alert to phishing emails, text messages or calls that reference the outage, orders, refunds or loyalty programs, and should rely only on official company channels for updates. Organizations that exchange data with Ahold Delhaize as suppliers or partners should monitor for suspicious activity from related accounts and integrations until the company shares more details.