Cross posted from: http://blog.54f3.com/2009/12/22/sadly-another-hack-happens-impact-tbd/
While finally acknowledging their security exposure, aweber has done little to placate its user base. Yes another example of what I’m calling the ‘splatter’ effect. The damage that is borne upon others related to the security exposure.
In this case, it’s not just aweber that is impacted. Too bad for them. Now, every list owner (10′s of thousands) on their network potentially have a PR nightmare on their hands. In this case, you’ll have your list subscribers receiving mail they never asked for (yes of course these lists will be shared and sold on the many forums available for this).
Worse yet, you have the list owners that now have to apologize to their memberships, consider the impacts to their businesses (as we know, many folks invest significantly on their mailing lists), and the potential backlash/unsubscribes that are sure to follow.
While the impact isn’t quantifiable, and the true costs hard to measure, it is safe to assume that there are many PO’d customers right now, and it’ll be weeks/months before the splatter is fully known.
