Dutch company behind Hannaford, Stop & Shop says cyber issue affecting US network

A cyberattack on the parent company of several prominent U.S. supermarkets is causing issues at stores across the country. 

The Dutch company Ahold Delhaize released a statement on Friday warning that it recently discovered a cyberattack within its U.S. network. It is the parent company of Stop & Shop, Hannaford, Food Lion, and Giant Food, and has more than 2,000 stores across the country.

Local news outlets across the U.S. reported that residents are unable to place grocery delivery orders online, and websites for some of the supermarket brands are offline. Stores are still able to accept credit cards and process some pharmacy orders.

Ahold Delhaize said law enforcement was notified and the company began an investigation alongside external cybersecurity experts. 

“Our teams are taking steps to assess and mitigate the issue. This includes taking some systems offline to help protect them,” the company said. 

“This issue and subsequent mitigating actions have affected certain Ahold Delhaize USA brands and services including a number of pharmacies and certain e-commerce operations.”

Ahold Delhaize is one of the world’s largest food retail groups, reporting net sales in 2023 of more than $24 billion. 

The company did not respond to requests for comment or an update. The website for Hannaford is still down as of Tuesday afternoon but the sites for Stop & Shop, Giant and Food Lion have been restored.

Each website had a since-removed banner warning of potential disruptions to delivery systems. All of the brands published Ahold Delhaize’s statement about the cyberattack on their websites. 

Hannaford, which has 187 stores in the U.S., published its own message on Facebook saying recovery efforts are still underway. 

“Most of our pharmacies are currently processing prescriptions and customers should visit their local pharmacy to fill their prescription needs. There may be some pharmacies that are unable to accept phone calls at this time,” the company said. 

“Our website is still impacted by a network issue. To Go orders for pickup and delivery today have been canceled as our associates cannot view orders placed, and we've reached out to impacted customers. Customers with canceled orders may continue to see a pending transaction on their bank account, which should clear within several days.”

No hacking group has claimed credit for the attack but retail outlets and supermarkets are often brought down by ransomware gangs and cybercriminal groups eager to exploit the urgency of restoration efforts. 

Grocery services like Weee!, Massy Stores, The Shoprite Group, Coop, Verny, Fast Shop and others have faced attacks, exposing customer personal and financial data in the process.