The Empty Shelves
In October 2026 a big Dutch supermarket chain was hit by a cyber attack. According to sources of the Dutch broadcaster NOS, security staff saw suspicious traffic coming in and decided to switch off the systems, which stopped the hackers getting further in. As a result distribution centres stood still, shelves ran empty and online ordering did not work. The company says there is so far no sign that data was stolen. How the attack started and who is behind it has not been made public. The police are investigating. The characters in this puzzle are made up. We do not know who really stepped in. The attack is real.
What can you learn?
Not every story about a hack is about a mistake. Sometimes the smartest choice is to step in at once, even if that causes a lot of trouble. Notice something strange on your computer or account? Report it right away and do not wait.
This does not give away who the weak link in the puzzle is: the characters are made up.