ASOS investigates apparent hack after customers receive threatening app notifications

ASOS customers received an unusual and threatening notification through the retailer's app on Tuesday morning, October 6. The message claimed that the company had been hacked, according to TechRadar.

Fanpage reported that customers around the world received a message announcing a breach of systems and the theft of personal data. Those were claims made in the message, not independently established findings in the supplied coverage.

The October 6 notification included a specific claim that ASOS's Snowflake instance had been compromised, TechRadar reported. Its report said there had been no confirmation from ASOS at that point.

The alert also appeared to threaten the company's IT department with a data release, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. That makes the distinction between receiving an unauthorised message and confirming a data breach important: the notification alone does not establish what information, if any, was taken.

ASOS was investigating after thousands of app users received the notification, the Guardian reported on October 6. The supplied reports do not establish how the message was sent or how many accounts were affected.

The reports also reached investors. World News CNA reported on October 6 that shares in the UK online retailer had dropped following reports of a hack. The supplied coverage does not give the size of that fall.

ASOS is investigating, according to the Guardian, but the available coverage does not confirm the attackers' claim about Snowflake or establish that customer data was stolen.

The reported reach also varies. Fanpage described all users receiving the same notification and customers worldwide being affected, while the Guardian reported thousands of recipients. That leaves the precise scale unresolved.

The central issue is what ASOS's investigation establishes: how the notification was sent, whether its systems were compromised and whether any customer information was accessed or taken. The supplied coverage does not yet answer those questions.

Any confirmation of the claimed Snowflake compromise or threatened data release would materially change the picture. For now, those claims remain separate from the confirmed reports of customers receiving the alert.