You pull out your phone to check your grocery store's digital coupons or place an order for dinner.
asserted
You → pull → dinner
Suddenly, the app won't open.
asserted
app → open → ?
The website is unavailable, and the groceries you were counting on for tonight may never arrive.
uncertain
you → count → tonight
For anyone who depends on online grocery shopping, that's a frustrating problem.
asserted
that → depend → shopping
That's the situation shoppers encountered this week at several major U.S. supermarket chains.
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shoppers → encounter → chains
A cybersecurity incident at grocery giant Ahold Delhaize forced the company to take some systems offline.
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incident → force → systems
The disruption affected Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Hannaford and the Giant supermarket chains.
asserted
disruption → affect → Stop
The company says its physical stores have remained open, although customers have experienced interruptions to online services.
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customers → say → services
There's another reason this story deserves attention.
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story → be → attention
The same company suffered a major data breach in 2024 that exposed personal information belonging to more than 2.2 million people.
asserted
that → suffer → people
So, as investigators work to understand the latest incident, shoppers have a reasonable question: Could their personal information be at risk again?
uncertain
information → work → risk
Join our upcoming CyberGuy LIVE class: 5 Ways to Travel Smarter and Save Money
In this free live online class, Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson will share five practical ways to protect your trip and your wallet this holiday travel season.
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Knutsson → join → trip
You’ll learn how to secure your phone and personal information, find better travel deals, avoid common scams, save money on bookings and use technology to make your travels easier and less stressful.
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travels → learn → technology
No technical experience is needed.
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experience → need → ?
Major grocery cybersecurity incident affects five US supermarket chains
On Oct. 12, Ahold Delhaize confirmed a cybersecurity issue within its network.
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Delhaize → affect → network
The Netherlands-based company owns some of America's best-known regional supermarket chains and operates more than 9,400 stores worldwide.
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company → base → stores
The company took certain systems offline to protect its operations while security teams investigated the problem.
asserted
teams → take → problem
In its official statement, Ahold Delhaize said: "Our teams are taking steps to assess and mitigate the issue.
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teams → say → issue
This includes taking some systems offline to help protect them.
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This → include → them
The company serves approximately 60 million customers each week across its international businesses.
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company → serve → businesses
Consequently, a problem involving its technology can affect grocery shopping far beyond a single store.
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problem → involve → store
Which US grocery stores are affected?
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stores → affect → ?
The cybersecurity incident has disrupted online services for five major U.S. supermarket chains:
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incident → disrupt → chains
- Stop & Shop: Serves customers across the Northeast, including Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
- Food Lion: Operates supermarkets throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
- Hannaford: Serves communities in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and New York.
- Giant Food: Operates stores in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the Washington, D.C. area.
- The Giant Company: Operates Giant and Martin's stores primarily in Pennsylvania and neighboring states.
asserted
Hannaford → serve → Pennsylvania
According to Grocery Dive, websites and mobile apps for all five chains were still unavailable on the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 14.
uncertain
websites → accord → Wednesday
That marked at least the third consecutive day of online disruptions.
asserted
That → mark → disruptions
Customers have encountered problems accessing online ordering and digital coupons.
asserted
Customers → encounter → ordering
Some app-based loyalty features have also been unavailable.
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features → base → ?
In its Oct. 13 update, Ahold Delhaize said it was beginning a controlled relaunch of certain systems.
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it → say → systems
However, as of Oct. 14, the company had not announced a firm timetable for restoring all affected services.
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company → announce → services
In its Oct. 13 statement, Ahold Delhaize confirmed that its supermarkets across Europe and the United States remained open and were serving customers.
asserted
supermarkets → confirm → customers
Notices from the affected U.S. chains also indicated that pharmacies were operating during their normal business hours.
asserted
pharmacies → indicate → hours
However, online shopping has experienced significant disruptions.
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shopping → experience → disruptions
Customers have faced interruptions to grocery pickup and delivery services.
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Customers → face → services
Meanwhile, shoppers who rely on digital coupons have encountered problems accessing their usual discounts.
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who → rely → discounts
As of Oct. 14, Food Lion, Giant Food and The Giant Company also directed customers to third-party delivery services, including Instacart, DoorDash and Uber Eats, where available.
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Lion → direct → Instacart
For customers who depend on grocery delivery because of mobility challenges or limited transportation, these disruptions can create a serious inconvenience.
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disruptions → depend → inconvenience
What happens to online grocery orders and refunds?
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What → happen → orders
If you placed an online grocery order that was never fulfilled, the affected supermarket chains said customers would receive refunds for those orders.
asserted
customers → place → orders
However, it's worth checking your credit card or bank account to make sure the refund actually arrives.
asserted
refund → check → card
…and 73 more, not listed.
The Aporia
