Online clothing and beauty store ASOS are the latest UK company to fall victim to a damaging cyber security breach.

Thousands of customers in the UK received a push notification from the e-retailer's app informing them that hackers have breached the company's data.

"Dear ASOS DPO and IT, we have fully compromised the Snowflake instance. Engage with us, or we will leak it," the message reads.

The company is investigating the hack, though its website and app appear to be functioning within normal parameters. Shares in the company have fallen by as much as 12%.

Cybersecurity experts have noted that cloud data storage can be just as important to manage as traditional networks.

Charlotte Wilson, head of enterprise at cyber security firm Check Point, said in a BBC article: "If confirmed, this is a deeply serious attack because the hackers appear to have done something particularly brazen: turned ASOS's own app into their ransom note.

"Millions of people trust notifications from apps on their phones because they are supposed to come directly from the company."

The message customers received refers to the data storage company Snowflake, whose tools are used by dozens of firms for collecting, analysing and storing data.

It is not known if ASOS is a customer of Snowflake or what data might be stored with the service. But the company has been the subject of many high profile data breaches in recent years and has been linked to incidents targeting services including Ticketmaster and Santander.

Dan Bird, from cyber security firm Horizon3, also said to the BBC that the pop up message implies the hackers' access has gone beyond the Snowflake database.

He said: "Sending a push notification to ASOS's app users would require access to the company's notification system, which is separate from the Snowflake data platform the attackers claim to have compromised.

"If both claims hold up, it suggests the attackers got hold of credentials that opened more than one door."