Key actors — tap for context
Asos
British online fashion retailer based in Camden Town, London, listed on the London Stock Exchange
Why here: its customers received a notice claiming it had been attacked
More info →
Snowflake
American cloud platform for storing and analysing data
Why here: according to the report, the attackers "fully took over" the platform; the company did not confirm this
More info →Jake Moore
security expert at ESET
Why here: warned that sending the notice alone suggests access to some linked systems
Marks & Spencer
British clothing and food retail chain
Why here: was among the recent victims of attacks on British retailers
Harrods
London luxury department store
Why here: The Irish Times mentions it among recent targets
More info →
Jaguar Land Rover
British carmaker
Why here: mentioned in connection with recent attacks in the automotive sector
More info →What the notice says
In translation, the message reads: "Dear Asos DPO and IT, we have fully compromised the Snowflake instance. Engage with us, or we will leak it." It is signed "xuanyewengateway" and contains a link to a Telegram channel. Infosecurity Magazine ↗ It arrived as a routine notification from the Asos app, and as The Irish Times reports, it also spread on social media. Its authenticity has not been confirmed. The Irish Times ↗What it may mean
Jake Moore of ESET points out that the mere fact that the authors were able to send a push notification suggests access to at least some of Asos's linked systems, though it does not confirm the extent of the intrusion. Infosecurity Magazine ↗ Infosecurity also recalls a May 2024 campaign in which attackers used stolen login credentials to access Snowflake accounts that did not require multi-factor authentication. Pieter Arntz of Malwarebytes, whom Infosecurity quotes, noted that Asos uses the marketing platform Simon AI, which runs on Snowflake, so any connection would be indirect. Infosecurity Magazine ↗What is at stake
Asos operates in more than 100 markets and had 16.4 million active customers at the end of fiscal year 2026. Its shares fell as much as 13% during the day, the largest intraday drop since September 2025, while Snowflake shares lost as much as 3.2% before the New York open. The Irish Times ↗ Britain is its largest market, accounting for 49% of revenue in the first half of its last fiscal year. RTÉ ↗ In a piece that The Irish Times draws on, Bloomberg notes that hackers hit Marks & Spencer, Co-op and Harrods at roughly the same time, and that Jaguar Land Rover suffered a major cyberattack last year that forced it to halt its factories. The Irish Times ↗Experts advise not opening the link in the notice, not connecting to the Telegram account, and changing passwords to be safe. Infosecurity Magazine ↗ Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer of NordVPN, warns of the risk of follow-up phishing. RTÉ ↗
What is still unclear
Asos has neither confirmed nor denied any compromise. According to The Irish Times (13:20), a spokesperson had no immediate comment. The company later told ABC News, via the chatbot on its website, that: "We're aware of the notification and are currently investigating. We don't have any further information to share at this stage, but we'll provide an update as soon as we know more." ABC News ↗ Snowflake did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is not known whether there was a real data leak, what data or how many customers might be affected, or how the attackers gained access to the channel through which the notices were sent.What hotinfo Is Watching
- Asos kompromitáciu potvrdil a upresnil, ktorých údajov sa týka
- Útočníci zverejnili vzorku údajov alebo iný dôkaz prieniku
- Snowflake alebo úrad na ochranu údajov sa k prípadu vyjadril
*Lead photo: Greater London House in Camden Town, London, Asos's headquarters. Photo by Stephen Craven, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons, geograph.org.uk).*
