Ahold Delhaize takes systems offline after cyberattack
Ahold Delhaize pulled systems offline on October 12 after a cyberattack that disrupted websites, apps and deliveries across US and European brands. No actor has claimed it.
Grocery giant Ahold Delhaize took "some systems offline" on October 12 after detecting malicious activity on its network, disrupting websites, apps, orders and deliveries across its US and European brands. Stores stayed open. The company says its investigation "has not yet found evidence that sensitive customer, associate, or partner data was stolen," and no group has claimed responsibility.
No vendor advisory applies here — this is an incident story. The account comes from the company's own statements as reported by BleepingComputer and SecurityWeek. The company has not said whether systems were encrypted; asked directly, a spokesperson pointed BleepingComputer back to the public statement.
What's affected
Taking systems offline was described as "a precautionary measure that affected most of our brands across Europe and the United States." Reported impact:
- Netherlands — Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall websites, apps and customer-service platforms went down. Albert Heijn's site and app are back; home deliveries are expected to resume October 23.
- Belgium — Delhaize e-commerce is "fully operational" again.
- United States — Stop & Shop staff reported trouble accessing schedules and pay stubs; Ahold Delhaize USA e-commerce is expected back "in the coming days."
- Central and Southeastern Europe — most store sites and apps are back online; some systems remain down.
The company employs more than 384,000 people and runs 9,551 stores serving 77 million customers weekly.
Response
Ahold Delhaize says it notified the Dutch National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) within 24 hours of discovering the activity, filed a police report, and brought systems back in phases. CEO Frans Muller: "Although this incident was caused by the malicious actions of others, we apologize for the inconvenience this has caused."
What to do
If you operate or supply any Ahold Delhaize brand:
- Expect degraded ordering, delivery and workforce systems to come back in phases; verify restored services against the company's official channels rather than cached status pages.
- Treat store-price and delivery discrepancies as a known side effect during restoration, not a separate incident.
- Watch for Ahold Delhaize–themed phishing aimed at staff and customers while official comms are disrupted — outages are prime cover for lures.
There is nothing for the general public to patch; the useful action is skepticism toward unexpected "account" or "delivery" messages until services stabilize.
Context
This is the second major attack on Ahold Delhaize in recent years. A November 2024 intrusion, claimed by the INC Ransom group, exposed data on more than 2.2 million people. This time no group has claimed responsibility and the company reports no confirmed data theft yet — but "no evidence found" during an active investigation is a status, not a conclusion. A named actor or a data-leak-site listing, if either appears, would change the picture.