Ahold Delhaize isolates network to limit cyber incident impact

Ahold Delhaize, a multinational food retail group, has taken portions of its network offline to contain an ongoing cybersecurity incident. The Zaandam-based company announced the protective measure on 12 October 2026, stating that teams are actively assessing the issue to limit its impact. While physical stores remain open and continue serving customers, the disruption has significantly affected digital interactions and backend operations across multiple regions.

The retailer serves approximately 60 million customers weekly through more than 9,400 stores in Europe, the United States, and Indonesia. This incident marks the second major security breach for the organisation in recent years, following a November 2024 ransomware attack that compromised the data of over 2.2 million individuals in the US.

What we know

According to Cyber Security News, the company identified a security issue within its network, leading to the decision to switch off parts of its IT infrastructure. Ahold Delhaize described these shutdowns as necessary steps to protect its systems, apologising for the inconvenience caused to partners and customers. The organisation did not specify the nature of the threat, the entry point used, or whether any data had been stolen or encrypted during this specific event.

Digital services for several major brands have been disrupted. In the Netherlands, Albert Heijn’s website, mobile application, and home delivery service became unavailable. Sister brands Etos and Gall & Gall also experienced outages affecting customer service platforms and logistics systems. Although Albert Heijn stores remained open with functional checkout systems, personal discounts and app-linked savings schemes were paused. Electronic shelf labels continued to display prices from the previous week, potentially causing discrepancies at the till.

The impact extends to the American market, where Progressive Grocer reported that websites for Food Lion, The Giant Co., Giant Food, Hannaford, and Stop & Shop were inaccessible. Employees at Stop & Shop locations reported difficulties accessing their work schedules and pay stubs. An internal memo shared by Food Lion staff indicated the incident was classified as an IT outage, warning that stores might be unable to shop, stage, or hand off online orders.

Ahold Delhaize operates with yearly net sales exceeding $104 billion and employs nearly 400,000 people. A spokesperson was not immediately available to clarify whether the incident affected corporate systems globally or if devices had been encrypted. The company’s statement focused on mitigation and assessment, leaving the full scope and cause of the incident unresolved. This precautionary approach mirrors responses from other retailers, such as United Natural Foods, which took systems offline in June 2025 after detecting unauthorised activity.

Defender's checklist

• Monitor internal network traffic for unusual outbound connections or unexpected data transfers.
• Verify the integrity of critical system files and compare them against known good baselines.
• Ensure all employee endpoints have the latest security patches and antivirus definitions.
• Review access logs for privileged accounts to detect any unauthorised privilege escalation.

Background: Privilege escalation vulnerabilities

Detect privilege escalation by correlating authentication logs with file permission changes and process creation events. Look for unusual parent-child process relationships, unexpected service account usage and deviations from baseline behaviour. Use endpoint detection platforms to catch runtime anomalies that static scans miss.

Read the full guide: Detect Privilege Escalation: Signals, Tools and Blind Spots

What to do and how to stay safe: Ahold Delhaize

• Check official retailer communication channels for updates on service availability before attempting online orders.
• Verify transaction receipts carefully if in-store prices differ from digital listings due to system lags.
• Monitor your financial statements for any unrecognised charges during the period of service disruption.
• Avoid clicking on links in unsolicited emails claiming to resolve access issues with affected services.

General security guidance from the TechWire Beat newsroom. It is not confirmed advice from the organisations named in this story.

Frequently asked questions

Which Ahold Delhaize brands are affected by the outage?

Albert Heijn, Etos, Gall & Gall, Delhaize, Food Lion, Stop & Shop, Giant Food, Hannaford, and The Giant Co. have reported service disruptions.

Are physical stores still open for customers?

Yes, Ahold Delhaize confirmed that all physical stores remain open and are continuing to serve customers despite the digital outages.

Has the company confirmed if data was stolen?

No, the company has not confirmed whether customer data was accessed or stolen during this specific incident.