Cyber incident has cost Albert Heijn at least €10 million, experts estimate
Supermarket experts put the financial damage to Albert Heijn from the cyber incident at €10 million or more, before the cost of extra IT staff.
Ahold Delhaize, the parent company of Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall, had to shut down several systems on Sunday and Monday because of an "IT incident". Supermarket experts estimate that the cyber incident has so far caused Albert Heijn financial damage of at least €10 million.
The extra costs the company is incurring to hire IT experts come on top of that figure.
The police say there is currently no criminal investigation into the incident. The police and the Public Prosecution Service (OM) have been in contact with Ahold Delhaize and have invited the company to file a report (aangifte). Both receive many questions about the incident, they said.
The police and the OM explain why a report matters: "To be able to detect and prosecute successfully, it is crucial to always get information from victims as quickly as possible."
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Albert Heijn
Albert Heijn is a Dutch supermarket chain, known in the Netherlands simply as "AH". It runs stores across the country and is part of the international Ahold Delhaize group. It is one of the most widely used places to buy groceries in the Netherlands, and its loyalty programme, the Bonus card, is well known here.
OM (Openbaar Ministerie)
The Public Prosecution Service is the Dutch authority that investigates and prosecutes criminal cases, working together with the police. It decides whether a suspect is brought to court and which charges are brought, and it leads criminal investigations. It matters here because it receives reports of crimes (aangifte) and decides whether a criminal case goes forward.