Asos releases statement following app 'hack'

Afternoon all,

Asos has now released a statement following the “ASOS HACKED” message pushed out to Brits’ phones earlier today.

A spokesperson for the retailer said: “Basic personal information including name and contact details may have been accessed. We do not believe that payment-card information or account passwords, were impacted.”

Stocks cratered by as much as 10 per cent, though Asos has said that the website and app are now back to normal.

Meanwhile, our retail whizz Felix Armstrong has a data packed long read on the opportunities that lay ahead for Tesco as the supermarket giant backs away from the European market. And, to give you a sneak preview, there will be a longer discussion all about the future of Britain’s supermarkets with Felix on tomorrow’s Business As Usual podcast.

Plus: Our deputy Life&Style editor Adam Bloodworth has an exclusive interview with Robert De Niro, all about the Hollywood legend’s $1.3bn hospitality empire.

Have a great evening! We’ll be back in your inboxes at 8am tomorrow.

Matt

Users of the Asos app received a push notification on Tuesday morning titled “ASOS HACKED”, in an apparent attempt by the attackers to contact the company’s data protection and IT teams.

Asos is understood to be investigating whether any hack has taken place. Shares in the London-listed retailer fell by as much as 10 per cent following the apparent hack, to 439p.

“Dear ASOS DPO and IT, we have fully compromised the Snowflake instance”, the message read. “Engage with us, or we will leak it”. The notification included a link to a Telegram chat.

The apparent hackers later said that the Asos app remains safe to use, in a statement posted to Telegram.

The supermarket chain, the UK’s largest, is weighing up whether to offload its operations in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with grocery rival Lidl among the interested parties. 

This retreat from Europe, which Tesco could confirm when it updates shareholders on Thursday, would bring to an end the grocer’s globetrotting expansion and spell nothing but trouble for its British competitors. 

According to an AJ Bell survey, Reeves was the least popular of the last five chancellors, and even ranked below Kwasi Kwarteng, who held the role for just over a month. 

Kwarteng has been dogged by his leading role in putting Liz Truss’ “mini-budget” to the country in 2022 – a year in which he was the shortest serving of four chancellors. 

The cross-border finance firm’s tie-up with Oaknorth will see the latter adopt Wise’s international payments engine directly into its own banking platform for small businesses.

Fintechs and challengers have dominated the small business lending market after high street giants retreated. Research from the British Business Bank puts challenger banks on around 60 per cent of gross lending to mid-sized firms, compared to nearly two decades ago, when the four largest banks made up 90 per cent.

Policymakers should do more to protect vulnerable households from surges in inflation caused by geopolitical events like the Iran war, the IMF says in a newly-published chapter of its world economic outlook that looks set to spark further debate about the UK’s welfare bill.

The intervention comes as the conflict in the Middle East threatens to derail John Healey’s Budget next month, as energy prices and global borrowing costs surge. 

Goodfellas and Taxi Driver legend Robert De Niro talks exclusively to City AM The Magazine about his hospitality empire, which quietly occupies the 83-year-old New York-born actor in-between his film-making.

Aspiring hosts of the 2036 Olympic Games will have until the end of the month to declare their interest in staging the multi-sport event.

The quadrennial summer Games will be staged in Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032 but submissions for the following event will now close at the end of October after the governing International Olympic Committee set out steps for selection.

They state that there are seven nations interested thus far, but more could join the list.

The Conservatives face astronomical challenges, from a renewed Labour government under Prime Minister Andy Burnham through to a sticky Reform vote despite recent scandals.

Yet the Tories arrived in Birmingham for their annual jamboree with a skip in their step and a vengeance in their mouths. This is partly driven by a significant improvement in vibes, certainly since a year ago when it felt to many that Kemi Badenoch was on her last legs.

On the reasons to not vote Conservative, very few blame Kemi. Instead, legacy, and earning back trust, remains the Tories’ biggest obstacle, writes Matthew Lesh.

Would you like to advertise with us or become a sponsor? Please reach out to: [email protected]