Dutch minister urges Albert Heijn to report suspected hack

Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel has urged Albert Heijn to report a suspected hacking attempt earlier this week, saying that sharing what the supermarket learned could help other organisations avoid similar incidents. The company has not publicly explained what happened and had not filed a police report by Thursday evening, according to ANP [1].

Van Weel said he understood that the company’s immediate priority during the incident was protecting its systems. He said he had discussed the matter with Frans Muller, chief executive of Albert Heijn’s parent company, Ahold Delhaize, and had pressed him to share information about the incident.

The supermarket was still dealing with the aftermath of the security incident when the report was published. Van Weel said he hoped it was now in calmer waters and would take the step of reporting it.