ASOS customers receive hack alert as retailer faces extortion message

Thousands of ASOS customers have received a phone alert saying the online retailer has been hacked. The mobile app notification, titled "ASOS hacked," was sent on Tuesday and directed recipients to a Telegram account. The message claimed the company's Snowflake instance had been compromised and threatened to leak data unless contact was made.

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The alert said: "Dear ASOS DPO and IT, we have full compromised the Snowflake instance. Engage with us, or we will leak it," followed by a Telegram link. The message was sent to customers through the ASOS app, according to the report.

Shares in the company fell by more than 10% in morning trading after the warning. The incident adds to a period of sustained pressure on UK retailers from cyber attackers. The report noted that a number of major retailers have been targeted over the past two years, including Marks & Spencer and Harrods.

For ASOS, the immediate impact has been both reputational and financial, with the market reacting quickly to the claim of a possible data leak. The reference to Snowflake is significant because the company is a widely used cloud data platform, and any claim of access to such a system raises concerns about customer information and internal business data. However, the available report does not confirm whether ASOS has verified the claim, what data may have been accessed, or whether the threat is credible.

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The message itself appears to be an extortion attempt rather than a confirmed disclosure of a breach. Cyber incidents affecting retailers can have wider consequences because they may disrupt sales, damage trust and trigger regulatory scrutiny if personal data is involved. In this case, the warning was delivered directly to customers, which may increase concern even before any technical confirmation is available.

The sharp share price fall also shows how quickly markets can react to unverified cyber claims. What remains unclear is whether ASOS has confirmed any compromise, whether customer data is at risk, and who is behind the Telegram message. It is also not known whether the company has issued a separate public statement beyond the app alert.

The next developments to watch are any confirmation from ASOS, any response from the alleged attackers, and whether further details emerge about the scope of the incident.

#ASOS #cyberattack #Snowflake #Telegram #retailsecurity

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