Snowflake shares slide 2% after alleged Asos hack

Snowflake shares fell 2% on Tuesday morning after alleged hackers sent a threatening push notification through the mobile app of UK retailer Asos. The attackers claimed they had fully compromised the Snowflake instance used by the company.

The message was addressed to the data protection officer and IT staff at Asos. It warned that the attackers breached the cloud data platform and threatened to leak customer information unless the retailer responded, directing recipients to a Telegram channel.

Snowflake provides cloud data storage and management to corporate clients and has previously been linked to data breaches affecting dozens of major firms. Asos, which relies on the platform for customer data, had neither confirmed nor denied any breach by mid-morning Tuesday. Under UK data protection rules, a confirmed breach requires regulatory notification within three days.

Shares of Asos tumbled 10.2% to 450.9p on Tuesday, touching a session low of 435.5p after opening at 485p, even as the broader FTSE 250 index traded higher.