Cyber incident at Albert Heijn, Etos, and Gall & Gall triggers recovery process
Albert Heijn, Etos, and Gall & Gall have been dealing with a cybersecurity incident since Sunday afternoon, October 11. According to Albert Heijn, immediate measures were taken to protect the IT environment. Part of these measures included the preventive temporary shutdown of several systems.
According to the company, recovery efforts are focused on the careful and secure restoration of systems and the restocking of stores. All distribution centers are expected to be operational again later today, as stated in the update from October 14, 2026. Regular deliveries of non-perishable products have resumed, and work is underway to resume deliveries of fresh products. Product availability may still vary by store and product category.
Customers are also experiencing the consequences. Checkout systems are functional, but personal discounts and loyalty programs, including digital stamps (Koopzegels) and Air Miles, are temporarily unavailable. Online ordering and delivery are not yet possible, and customer service is temporarily unreachable. Accumulated digital stamp balances remain secure, and customers are asked to keep their receipts.
The investigation into the nature and cause of the incident is ongoing. According to Albert Heijn, there are currently no indications that customer or employee data have been compromised. The company notes that in these types of situations, malicious actors often attempt to exploit the circumstances, for example, by posing as employees through phishing.
What can you learn from this for your own organization? Ensure you have an incident response plan that includes detailed communication strategies for customers. Train your employees to recognize phishing and inform customers through established, reliable channels so they can distinguish genuine messages from fraudulent ones.
Read the nieuws.ah.nl article for more information.