28-06-2025
Two Million People Affected by US Retail Data Breach
Ahold Delhaize data breach compromised 2.2M records, including sensitive personal, financial, and health information.
Employees' data like SSNs, passport, and bank info were stolen - potential for identity theft.
Customers not directly affected, but former employees should freeze credit reports and monitor for fraud.
Not all data breaches come from the major apps and services you use every day. Some of them come from the places you least expect. If you used to work at any of Ahold Delhaize's brands, including Food Lion or Stop & Shop, you might want to run and get some freezes on your credit reports when you get a chance.
Global food retail conglomerate Ahold Delhaize has officially confirmed that a ransomware attack last November compromised the sensitive data of more than 2.2 million people in the US. The breach exposed a vast trove of personal, financial, and health information belonging to current and former employees. According to the disclosure, attackers first gained access to the company's internal US business systems on November 6, 2024. The filing officially states that 2,242,521 individuals were impacted.
The company is now in the process of notifying those affected. The stolen data varies by individual, but since there seem to be employee records mixed around here, it's a lotof data. Compromised files may include a combination of full names, contact details such as postal and email addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth. But it doesn't stop there. For some people they might also have Social Security numbers, passport numbers, driver's license numbers, and bank account information. Enough info for someone to siphon money out of your bank account, open credit cards in your name, or commit identity theft. Yikes.
Furthermore, protected health information was stolen, including details related to workers' compensation claims and other medical information contained within employment files. Ahold Delhaize specified that based on its investigation, it has "no indication that customer payment or pharmacy systems were compromised" and found "no customer credit card numbers contained in the affected files." So, average buyers and shoppers shouldn't be affected much by this. From the sound of it, though, if you used to work here, it's pretty bad.
Ahold Delhaize runs brands such as Food Lion, Stop & Shop, Giant Food, and Hannaford, with varying nationwide presences. So it's no surprise to see that so many people are affected. If you think you might be affected and that your SSN might be in the hands of malicious actors, it's a good idea to put freezes on your credit reports from major bureaus such as TransUnion and Equifax, and monitor them for any suspicious activity. Check out this link to know more info about next steps to take in case of identity fraud.
Source: Bleeping Computer
