ASOS app users receive push notifications apparently sent by hackers

rithdmc | 10 hours ago

Does Snowflake allow you to push messages via in-app messaging? I didn't think it did. This breach might be a little broader than reported.

jmkni | 10 hours ago

I've seen comments from people claiming they used to work at Asos saying that they have a Braze/Snowflake integration, and the push notification was sent from Braze

rithdmc | 10 hours ago

That'll do it. Thank you.

jmkni | 10 hours ago

Speculating, but it could also be they don't actually have Braze access, but there is a table in snowflake to schedule push notifications

Or they are lying about having snowflake access and only actually have Braze

Lots of fun possibilities!

iamacyborg | 9 hours ago

As far as I know, the Braze/Snowflake integration is just to pull contact data and event feeds into Braze and to sync out performance data.

If they’ve gained access to Braze presumably they’ll have access to the contact db stored in there along with whatever other information is pushed in to support segmentation and personalisation but it’s definitely limited in scope vs just gaining access to their snowflake db.

This assumes they implemented things sanely with the db user for Braze having limited access rights…

potatoproduct | 9 hours ago

Yep, my first thought is they probably are probably getting the candidate push notifications from snowflake.

UK-Al05 | 7 hours ago

When I used to work there they used databricks not snowflake. So it gave me a bit wtf when i got the notification.

domaaju | 10 hours ago

I received the push notification via the app this morning as well. Extremely bizarre and not how normally one finds out about a company getting hacked.

jagged-chisel | 10 hours ago

You probably found out before they did

vachina | 9 hours ago

Why do you have an app installed just to buy clothes

m4tthumphrey | 9 hours ago

Because I buy a lot of clothes and the ASOS app is well built and its slightly easier to use than the site.

domaaju | 8 hours ago

As the person above. I enjoy clothes browsing and shopping, and the app provides a very good experience, plus you normally tend to get app-only discounts. From a retailer perspective, (if the app is good) they get better retention and order value numbers from app customers.

drbscl | 7 hours ago

Most people do these days; it's convenient. Businesses push it because it improves retention too.

wat10000 | 5 hours ago

Installing an app takes two seconds. It’s not a big effort.

andruschakartem | 10 hours ago

The ransom note was addressed to their DPO, customers just got CC'd via push.

glownagger | 9 hours ago

Five popups. Five. To read this article that doesn't even tell me what ASOS is.

m4tthumphrey | 9 hours ago

For others its a huge online fashion retailer in the UK (and maybe elsewhere?).

theoreticalmal | 9 hours ago

Maybe the hackers were trying to do us a favor?

ameliaquining | 9 hours ago

Second paragraph mentions that it's a "clothing and beauty store".

nstj | 9 hours ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_blocking

Zhyl | 9 hours ago

It's a BBC article for a British retailer. I reckon the knowledge was reasonably assumed for the intended audience.

ifwinterco | 9 hours ago

It’s extremely well known in the UK which is the intended audience, although even here older readers might not have heard of it

nilamo | 8 hours ago

You can read any of it? I just get told to fuck off without a subscription.

ChrisRR | 6 hours ago

Literally the second sentence says it's a clothing store

(ignoring the fact that it's extremely well known in the UK and doesn't need introducing in the UK)

m4tthumphrey | 9 hours ago

Stock down 13% today. Interestingly ASOS has been steadily growing this year, would be interested to see Polymarkets today...

hnacobsxph | 9 hours ago

Braze API keys end up in a dozen CI configs and nobody rotates them. Campaign send is one POST.

iamacyborg | 9 hours ago

I am genuinely impressed at the lack of tech literacy in the live feed about this from the beeb.

roryirvine | 6 hours ago

Yeah, I noticed they were recommending that users log in and reset their password - at a time when ASOS still hadn't said anything about the extent of the problem.

For all they knew, the attackers could have been able to subvert the reset process to collect plaintext passwords, so the Beeb's advice risked turning a disaster for ASOS into a catastrophe for their users.

altcognito | 5 hours ago

I'm not sure who is recommending that, but if it is in the general channel it could be the proverbial bad guys making that recommendation in order to grab more account credentials.

eameam | 9 hours ago

Seems more likely to me that the braze api key was exposed

NoHedgeAllBets | 9 hours ago

Thanks to this hack I now know what ASOS is.

Rygian | 8 hours ago

Same here, first time I see that brand.

cube00 | 9 hours ago

> Asos did not immediately respond to the BBC's requests for comment.

Amazing how companies think if they say nothing it'll somehow just go away. Couldn't even be bothered to reply to say they're looking into it.

mcintyre1994 | 8 hours ago

I wonder how little time "immediate" means though. They probably have an overwhelming amount of incoming - from journalists, security service providers, and opportunist scammers posing as both of those groups among other things.

quickthrowman | 2 hours ago

I assume they sent the email at least one minute prior to publishing the article when the sentence is phrased like that, it doesn’t really mean anything other than “We have asked them a question and have yet to receive any reply”. The waiting period could actually be a single minute and still be truthful.

Aurornis | 8 hours ago

Notice the word “immediately” in that statement.

The journalists were in a rush to publish breaking news. They weren’t going to wait for a response.

This is just a CYA statement to say that they sent a message to the company to do their job but, quite literally, did not immediately get a response.

everfrustrated | 7 hours ago

It just means the author fired an email in the second before they pressed "publish" on the article.

hnlmorg | 8 hours ago

Usually the lack of response is because an official response hasn’t yet been approved by the legal department, and then signed off by the board. These things take longer than modern journalism takes to publish an article.

ChrisRR | 6 hours ago

Why does a clothes store need an app in the first place?

m4tthumphrey | 6 hours ago

As per my other comment to the same question:

> Because I buy a lot of clothes and the ASOS app is well built and its slightly easier to use than the site.

UK-Al05 | 6 hours ago

80% of their orders come through the app