US supermarkets hit by cybersecurity outage at food giant
- Ahold Delhaize confirms that it has been hit by a cyber attack
- Several stores in the US were hit by the attack
- Other details are not yet known
Multinational retailer Ahold Delhaize has confirmed that it recently suffered a cyber attack that forced it to shut down parts of its IT infrastructure. As a result, some supermarkets and pharmacies, especially those in the United States, were unable to properly serve their customers.
In a press release, the company said it recently discovered a cybersecurity issue within its U.S. network, brought in outside experts to help, notified law enforcement and took its network offline.
The company operates a variety of supermarkets, convenience stores and online supermarkets in Europe and the United States, including brands such as Food Lion, Stop & Shop and Giant.
Delivery delays and other problems
“This issue and subsequent mitigation measures have impacted certain Ahold Delhaize USA brands and services, including some pharmacies and certain e-commerce operations,” the company said in its announcement.
“Every Ahold Delhaize USA brand store is open and serving customers. We will continue to take action to further protect our systems. The safety of our customers, employees and partners is a top priority.”
A report from The Register The damage claims for US retailers have been going on for a week now, prompting even staff to express their annoyance on social media.
However, not all retailers were affected equally: at one point, Stop & Shop’s pharmacy was no longer able to refill prescriptions. The problem was only exacerbated by the fact that the telephone lines also went down. Food Lion, on the other hand, had to address missing and delayed deliveries. Instacart order return dates were continually postponed.
At this time, further details are scarce, and The registry claims employees were told not to discuss the incident with the media.
When a company shuts down its systems, it is typically done to prevent them from being encrypted and to prevent hackers from exfiltrating information, which is usually what happens in a ransomware attack.
