Ahold Delhaize said it is restoring websites, apps and other services after a cybersecurity incident forced most of its brands offline, with some systems already back up and more due in the coming days. The company said the outage began after suspicious activity was detected in its IT infrastructure and security experts were brought in to investigate.
The update matters now because the retailer’s digital services are being brought back in stages, not all at once. Albert Heijn’s website and app were back online on October 19, while home deliveries were expected to resume from Friday, October 23. The Etos and Gall & Gall websites were available that same day, e-commerce in Belgium was fully operational, and the majority of websites and apps in Central and Southeastern Europe were available for customers.
Most of Ahold Delhaize’s brands across Europe and the United States were affected when the company took certain systems offline as a precaution. Its stores stayed open throughout the incident, and the company notified the Dutch National Cyber Security Centre within 24 hours of finding the malicious activity. It also filed a formal police report with the Dutch police on October 19.
Frans Muller said taking systems offline was meant to protect them and that the move affected most of the company’s brands across Europe and the United States. He also apologized for the disruption, especially to customers, and said Ahold Delhaize remained committed to its customers, associates and partners.
Still, one question remains unsettled: how the intrusion was carried out. Ahold Delhaize said the activity was the result of the malicious actions of others, but it had no evidence at that point that sensitive customer, associate or partner data was taken. The investigation was still ongoing on October 19, even as the company worked to bring the rest of its online services back.
For now, the clearest sign of recovery is that the outage is no longer total. The company said e-commerce services at its Ahold Delhaize USA brands were expected back in the coming days, suggesting the restoration is advancing brand by brand rather than all at once.
