Shoppers of the British online fashion retailer ASOS woke up on Tuesday morning to a startling push notification sent through the company's own mobile app declaring "ASOS hacked" and claiming the retailer's Snowflake data environment had been fully compromised. The message told the company's data protection officer and IT team to engage with the sender "or we will leak it," and included a link to a Telegram page.
The notification read: "Dear ASOS DPO and IT, we have fully compromised the Snowflake instance. Engage with us, or we will leak it." Screenshots of the alert spread quickly across social media, where customers shared confusion and alarm, while the outage tracker Downdetector registered hundreds of reports from ASOS users around the time of the incident.
What happened, and what is unproven
What is confirmed is that the notification was sent through the ASOS app on October 6. What has not been confirmed is any actual breach of customer data. ASOS has not released an official statement confirming which systems, if any, were accessed, and told reporters it was still investigating and had yet to determine the cause of the alert. The retailer's website and app remained operational after the message went out, and the company said it would keep customers updated.
Security experts urged caution against assuming the worst. Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at ESET, said the fact the senders managed to push a notification to customers suggests they gained access to at least some of ASOS's connected systems, but that this does not prove the full extent of their claims. Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer at NordVPN, said customers should not assume personal or payment information had been stolen, as that had not been established. The Sun also reported that ASOS uses a customer data platform called Simon AI that runs on Snowflake, and cited Sky News as reporting that profiles there could include details such as clothing sizes and measurements — though it has not been confirmed that any such data was accessed.
Market reaction and wider context
Investors reacted sharply: shares in the FTSE 250-listed retailer declined by as much as 12 per cent to 438p on Tuesday, according to The Times. ASOS, led by chief executive José Antonio Ramos Calamonte, is in the middle of a turnaround effort and had recently told investors it expected adjusted pre-tax earnings to beat the midpoint of its guided range.
If a cyberattack is confirmed, ASOS would join a growing list of major British businesses hit by hackers, after Marks & Spencer and the Co-op suffered damaging attacks last year and Jaguar Land Rover faced an August 2025 attack estimated to have cost it, suppliers and local businesses £2 billion.
Experts also warned shoppers to be alert to follow-on scams: Charlotte Wilson of Check Point said criminals would try to exploit the confusion with phishing messages claiming accounts were compromised or offering refunds, and advised customers to go directly to the ASOS app or website rather than clicking links.
Sources:
- The Times: Asos hacked: app customers get alert suggesting data breach
- The Sun: Has Asos been hacked today?
The notification read: "Dear ASOS DPO and IT, we have fully compromised the Snowflake instance. Engage with us, or we will leak it." Screenshots of the alert spread quickly across social media, where customers shared confusion and alarm, while the outage tracker Downdetector registered hundreds of reports from ASOS users around the time of the incident.
What happened, and what is unproven
What is confirmed is that the notification was sent through the ASOS app on October 6. What has not been confirmed is any actual breach of customer data. ASOS has not released an official statement confirming which systems, if any, were accessed, and told reporters it was still investigating and had yet to determine the cause of the alert. The retailer's website and app remained operational after the message went out, and the company said it would keep customers updated.
Security experts urged caution against assuming the worst. Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at ESET, said the fact the senders managed to push a notification to customers suggests they gained access to at least some of ASOS's connected systems, but that this does not prove the full extent of their claims. Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer at NordVPN, said customers should not assume personal or payment information had been stolen, as that had not been established. The Sun also reported that ASOS uses a customer data platform called Simon AI that runs on Snowflake, and cited Sky News as reporting that profiles there could include details such as clothing sizes and measurements — though it has not been confirmed that any such data was accessed.
Market reaction and wider context
Investors reacted sharply: shares in the FTSE 250-listed retailer declined by as much as 12 per cent to 438p on Tuesday, according to The Times. ASOS, led by chief executive José Antonio Ramos Calamonte, is in the middle of a turnaround effort and had recently told investors it expected adjusted pre-tax earnings to beat the midpoint of its guided range.
If a cyberattack is confirmed, ASOS would join a growing list of major British businesses hit by hackers, after Marks & Spencer and the Co-op suffered damaging attacks last year and Jaguar Land Rover faced an August 2025 attack estimated to have cost it, suppliers and local businesses £2 billion.
Experts also warned shoppers to be alert to follow-on scams: Charlotte Wilson of Check Point said criminals would try to exploit the confusion with phishing messages claiming accounts were compromised or offering refunds, and advised customers to go directly to the ASOS app or website rather than clicking links.
Sources:
- The Times: Asos hacked: app customers get alert suggesting data breach
- The Sun: Has Asos been hacked today?
