Why did the ASOS hackers go directly to their customers?

On Tuesday October 6, customers of ASOS, the British fashion retailer, received a push notification from the official app with the title “ASOS HACKED.” It read: “Dear Asos DPO and IT, we have fully compromised the Snowflake instance. Engage with us, or we will leak it.” With this message, hackers unleashed a new weapon in the cyberattack arsenal: breaching business accounts and taking their extortion demands directly to customers. If these ASOS-style attacks become commonplace, there are implications for any business that regularly sends messaging to customers. Mass messages to consumers through emails or in-app messages…