Asos is investigating a suspected cyber attack after hackers hijacked the fashion retailer’s own app to claim a data breach and threaten the company. Shares in Asos fell by as much as 11 per cent on Tuesday morning after messages sent to some customers’ phones claimed the London-based company had been “hacked” and threatened to leak unspecified material.
The hackers’ message read: “Dear ASOS DPO and IT, we have fully compromised the Snowflake instance. Engage with us, or we will leak it.” Asos confirmed an “unauthorised” notification had been sent to its customers and that it was working with “specialist advisers, as well as all relevant authorities”. Basic personal information including name and contact details may have been accessed, but payment-card information or account passwords were not believed to be impacted.
The apparent breach follows several large-scale cyber attacks on UK companies, including Jaguar Land Rover and the Co-op Group. Shares in Asos closed down around 10 per cent. Snowflake said it had found no compromise of its platform. A data breach involving Snowflake customers in 2024 was linked to attacks on AT&T, Ticketmaster and Santander.
Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer at Nord VPN, called it “an unusually brazen and threatening message” and warned customers to watch out for phishing attacks. Any breach would make Asos the latest in a string of UK victims of cyber attacks.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing