Dutch police urge Ahold Delhaize to file cybercrime report after major cybersecurity incident
Notifying cybersecurity officials and filing a formal complaint aren’t the same.
Ahold Delhaize. Image by Cybernews/Milos Ruzicka/Shutterstock
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- Dutch police and prosecutors asked Ahold Delhaize to file a formal cybercrime complaint.
- Ahold Delhaize reported the incident to the National Cyber Security Centre, as Dutch law requires.
- No criminal investigation is underway, though police can start one without a formal complaint.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
The Netherlands Public Prosecution Service and the Dutch National Police have invited Ahold Delhaize to file a formal complaint regarding the cyberattack that affected the company’s supermarket chain this week.
As of writing, there’s no criminal investigation currently ongoing regarding the incident.
The Netherlands Public Prosecution Service and the Dutch National Police have been in contact with Ahold Delhaize. So far, no formal complaint has been filed.
“To successfully investigate and prosecute, it is crucial to obtain information from victims as quickly as possible,” the police state in a press release.
Ahold Delhaize complied with the Cybersecurity Act, which took effect last August and requires companies and organizations in the Netherlands to report cybersecurity incidents to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
However, reporting a cybersecurity incident to the NCSC isn’t the same as filing a formal report with the police.
This is the first time the Dutch National Police have publicly called on a company to file a formal complaint. Technically, a criminal investigation into a cybersecurity incident can be launched without a formal complaint.
This happened when hackers stole medical records from 850,000 cancer patients at Clinical Diagnostics, a medical research lab in Rijswijk. The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) found that the lab didn’t meet the legally required information security standards for the healthcare sector.
According to Ahold Delhaize, there’s no evidence that customer or employee data has been stolen.
In the meantime, Albert Heijn, one of Ahold Delhaize’s largest supermarket brands, which was affected by the cyberattack at its parent company, is slowly rebooting its logistics systems.
“Product availability may still vary by store, but it will gradually return to normal as the day progresses,” the food retailer said in an update on Thursday.
