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U.K. fashion retail giant Asos has confirmed a data breach of its customers\u2019 personal information after hackers used the company\u2019s own app to notify users that the company had been compromised.<\/p>\n
Asos said in a filing<\/a> with the London Stock Exchange that hackers broke into a third-party platform hosting data that the company uses to communicate with customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company said that names and contact information were taken in the breach.\u00a0<\/p>\n BBC News reports<\/a> that the stolen data includes home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses, as well as notes relating to customer profiles, such as their website search queries.<\/p>\n Asos said the hackers sent an \u201cunauthorised customer notification,\u201d which many posted to social media. The notification addressed Asos\u2019 data protection officer and IT department and said that the hackers \u201cfully compromised\u201d the company\u2019s data hosted on Snowflake, a tech company that allows its corporate customers to analyze large amounts of data. \u201cEngage with us, or we will leak it,\u201d the notification reads.<\/p>\n By using the app\u2019s own notification system to alert customers, the hackers are trying to pressure the company into engaging with them or risk having the stolen data published online.<\/p>\n The hackers reportedly broke into the Snowflake instance by \u201cimpersonating a trusted contact to obtain log in credentials,\u201d reports Bleeping Computer<\/a>. Snowflake said it had not experienced a breach of its systems. It\u2019s unclear if the Asos-run Snowflake instance was protected with multi-factor authentication. It\u2019s also not known how the hackers gained access to Asos\u2019 system for sending in-app push notifications, which is often handled by a third-party service.\u00a0<\/p>\n The hackers, who go by the handle Xuanye Group, have not indicated how much data they allegedly possess. Asos has 17 million customers, according to its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, fintech giant Betterment was compromised by hackers<\/a> who used their access to the company\u2019s third-party marketing platform to impersonate the company and send a crypto scam to its customers. The hackers also accessed customer names, email addresses, and phone numbers, among other data, during the breach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n