Hannaford hack shuts down website, food shopping app

Nov. 12—If you shop online or use the smartphone app for Hannaford Supermarkets, you've been shut out since late last week because of cybersecurity problems.

No rewards, no digital coupons, no renewing prescriptions online, and no Hannaford To Go, the service for contactless shopping without having to enter the store. The Hannaford website and app greet customers with a simple message, "Sorry! We're having technical issues with our servers. We're working as quickly as possible to restore service."

Hannaford's parent company, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize, said in a written statement on its website Friday that it detected a cybersecurity breach within its U.S. network. The Dutch-Belgian company also owns Stop & Shop, Giant Food and Food Lion.

"Immediately upon detecting the issue, our security teams began an investigation with the assistance of external cybersecurity experts. We also notified law enforcement," the company said.

Tuesday evening, the lights were dark on the Hannaford To Go part of the Hannaford grocery store on Kilton Road in Bedford and a manager said he could not talk about the problems.

Several customers said they had to scramble to order refills of prescriptions "the old way," in person or over the phone. Food shoppers said it was a minor inconvenience that they hoped would be fixed soon.

The app, like many other customer rewards programs, allows food shoppers to save money by shopping specials, clipping coupons and even locating items within the store.

All Hannaford stores are still open, the company said.

"Our teams are taking steps to assess and mitigate the issue," the company said. "This includes taking some systems offline to help protect them."

There was no word on whether customer information had been part of the breach.