New England Grocers Coping With Cyber Attack

The Dutch company that owns Stop & Shop and Hannaford grocery stores across New England is dealing with a cyberattack that has disrupted online shopping, product deliveries and pharmacy services at some locations.

Ahold Delhaize USA confirmed the attack in a statement on November 8. “Our teams are taking steps to assess and mitigate the issue. This includes taking some systems offline to help protect them. 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,” the company stated.

The attack disrupted stores’ websites, online ordering, product deliveries, pharmacy operations and stocking of some shelves in addition to the processing of payments by some pharmacies. Stores remained open but consumers in Maine, Connecticut and Massachusetts told local media that some products were missing and some shelves were bare at Stop & Shop.

The cybersecurity news site The Record said no hacking group has claimed credit for the attack. It also said supermarkets are “often brought down by ransomware gangs and cybercriminal groups eager to exploit the urgency of restoration efforts.”

Stop & Shop has more than 400 stores throughout New York, New England and New Jersey. Hannaford has more than 180 stores in New England and New York.

Ahold Delhaize also owns the U.S. chains Food Lion and Giant Foods.