# Ahold Delhaize Cyberattack Disrupts Online Services for US and European Groceries

> A cyberattack starting around October 11, 2026, forced Ahold Delhaize to take IT systems offline, impacting online grocery services and home deliveries for millions of customers across its American and European brands.

By PrimaryBrief newsroom · Published 2026-10-23T11:03:30.649926Z
Canonical: https://primarybrief.com/article/ahold-delhaize-cyberattack-disrupts-online-services-for-us-and-european-groceries-f667f48e

Ahold Delhaize, parent company of US grocery chains Food Lion, Stop & Shop, and Giant Food, experienced a cyberattack starting around October 11, 2026, which severely disrupted online services and home deliveries across its American and European brands [2][4]. The company confirmed on October 19, 2026, that "malicious actions of others" caused the incident [2].

This disruption affected millions of customers reliant on digital services for groceries, coupons, and home deliveries across multiple countries [2][8][9]. The event also marks the second major cyber incident for Ahold Delhaize in two years, following a November 2024 ransomware attack that compromised data for 2.2 million people [2][6][8].

## What the records show
The cybersecurity incident began around October 11, 2026, prompting Ahold Delhaize to take parts of its IT network offline as a precautionary measure on October 12 [1][4][9]. This action aimed to protect systems after suspicious activity was detected [1]. Physical stores remained open and operational across all brands throughout the disruption [1][3][5]. The attack specifically targeted online services, including websites, mobile applications, e-commerce functionalities, and digital customer programs like coupons and loyalty points [2][5][9]. The company publicly confirmed on October 19 that the event resulted from "malicious actions of others" [2].

## The timeline
The cyberattack commenced around October 11, 2026 [4]. By October 12, Ahold Delhaize announced it was experiencing a "security issue" and began shutting down systems [1][9]. On October 13, the company stated its investigation was ongoing and that it had "no evidence at this moment that customer, associate and partner data was taken" [3]. Ahold Delhaize explicitly confirmed on October 19 that the incident stemmed from malicious actions and reported it to Dutch police [2][7].

## What changed and for whom
The disruption primarily affected online operations, including online ordering and home delivery services [2][5]. For example, Albert Heijn, a Dutch brand, did not expect home deliveries to resume before October 22, extending that outage for at least 11 days [7]. While some European services started to recover, e-commerce for US brands such as Food Lion, Giant Food, and Stop & Shop continued to experience outages more than ten days after the initial disruption [2][5][9]. US customers could not clip digital coupons, redeem loyalty points, or place online pickup and delivery orders [9].

## What the subject has said publicly
Ahold Delhaize Chief Executive Officer Frans Muller apologized for the inconvenience on October 19, stating, "Although this incident was caused by the malicious actions of others, we apologize for the inconvenience this has caused especially to our customers" [2]. The company emphasized its commitment to protecting its infrastructure [6]. Dutch cybersecurity authorities received notification within 24 hours of the incident's detection [2]. The company has consistently stated there is "no evidence at this moment that suggests that any sensitive customer, associate or partner data was taken," though forensic analysis continues [2][3][5].

## What we could not confirm
The exact nature of the cyberattack, the identities of the perpetrators, and whether a ransom was involved remain unconfirmed [2][5]. No specific ransomware group has publicly claimed responsibility for the incident [8]. The full financial impact of the disruption has also not been disclosed [2].

## Evidence cited
1. Ahold Delhaize takes systems offline after cyberattack — global retail giant says 'cybersecurity incident' hit systems, but stores remain open | TechRadar (techradar.com) — https://techradar.com/
2. Ahold Delhaize confirms 'malicious actions' behind cyber outages affecting grocery brands (The Record from Recorded Future News) — https://therecord.media/
3. Ahold Delhaize update on security issue (aholddelhaize.com) — https://aholddelhaize.com/
4. Ahold Delhaize Suffers Cyberattack: Systems Offline, Stores Open, Data Unaffected – Rescana (rescanada.com) — https://rescanada.com/
5. Ahold Delhaize cyberattack timeline: stores stay open, no data loss confirmed, US e-commerce still down 10+ days after Oct. 12 breach (shattered.io) — https://shattered.io/
6. Ahold Delhaize Shuts Down Websites Following Cyberattack (Inc.com) — https://inc.com/
7. Retailer Ahold Delhaize reports cybersecurity incident to Dutch police | Euronext (euronext.com) — https://euronext.com/
8. Ahold Delhaize Cyberattack Hits Stores in US and Europe (safestate.com) — https://safestate.com/
9. Giant Food website and app back online following cyber attack (wusa9.com) — https://wusa9.com/
10. Ahold Delhaize: Cyberattack affects services across US and Europe (BleepingComputer) — https://bleepingcomputer.com/