A couple of days ago, my personal Gmail address was hacked. Normally, I'm quite careful and avoid doing things online that could be risky or make me vulnerable to this type of attack. I am going to share here some of the details as a cautionary tale for all of you who I care about.

What Happened?

As you may know, I have a YouTube channel for ArchiCAD tutorials that I set up literally 20 years ago and have 43,000 subscribers and over 5 million views.

I received an email from a company that has a product that helps creators edit their videos, particularly useful for excerpting longer videos into coherent, shorter chunks. I thought their software sounded pretty useful and had already heard about it, so I clicked the link in that email to establish an account. What I didn't realize was that this link led to a spoofed user portal. It was very convincing: it even had my YouTube profile picture in the corner and a dashboard showing the number of subscribers and the number of views at the top, so it looked like it had already been set up for me.

There was a button prominently placed saying "Please connect your YouTube channel to the portal." I thought that made sense, so I clicked the button so this software would be fully functional. It opened a pop-up window with a Google login saying "Please log in to your Google account to enable this connection." I put in my credentials, but nothing seemed to change on the page. I put them in a second time.

The Hacker Took Charge

Then I noticed an email come in saying that my account had been accessed from a new location on a Windows machine. I use Mac exclusively, so this was very odd.

Over the next eight minutes, I got a series of emails saying that my alternate email address as a backup had been removed from my account, that new backup login codes had been generated, and that my password had been changed. I attempted to connect to my Gmail account and found I was locked out. The attacker had even removed the link to my mobile phone, so I could not use that to verify my identity.

Later that day, I went to check on my YouTube channel and it had disappeared. It literally has been deleted. 20 years of videos and engagement with followers, gone without a trace.

Attempts At Resolution

I went to ChatGPT and asked what would be the best strategy to deal with this hacking. It suggested some ways to attempt to log back into the account, but none of them worked because the attacker had removed all of my credentials. It then suggested that I contact YouTube via X or Twitter, which I did. I now have a support case or ticket open and am hoping that they can help me.

It may be that my status as a creator on YouTube (which is part of Google, of course) may give me a way to restore my access. Google itself does not provide any direct support for Gmail users in cases like this, so right now I am in limbo, waiting to see if this whole huge chunk of my digital life is permanently gone. What a shock!

I have changed passwords and email connections for all of my financial portals, and I am assessing what other actions I need to take to reduce the vulnerability to the hacker's actions.

Stay Safe – Be Careful!

Posting this story here on my own website is one more step towards keeping my sanity and letting people know who might potentially be contacted by the hacker. I will post updates here as the story unfolds. Wish me luck!

If you get a personal email me that seems odd, perhaps asking for assistance, be extra cautious. A common scam is to send messages saying "I'm in trouble or stuck somewhere traveling, and need a bit of money sent to me, that of course will be paid back." Do not fall for this - I am healthy, and safe at home.

Here is a picture of me and my wife on my 72nd birthday, earlier this month, at a lovely restaurant on the water.

Warning Signs and What Went Wrong

As I think back on the sequence of events, I realize that I didn't pay close attention to the link that was provided by the person representing the video editing tool. It was a shortcut link that was unbranded, which in and of itself is not unusual.

After I clicked it and went to the spoofed portal, had I looked at the URL, I would have seen that, although it included the name of the software in the URL, it was not actually the website of that company. It was also curious that it was already set up so that my click took me to a page that already had my identifying information. This is what made me feel confident that it was legitimate, but in retrospect, this was a sign that it was a trap. I should have looked very carefully before clicking anything on the page.

The action to connect to my YouTube channel and log in through Google looked very standard, with nothing to warn me about it. I'm guessing that had I clicked on the security lock icon in the corner of that dialog, it would not have responded in the standard way that Google provides.

Regardless, there were a few warning signs that I should have paid attention to.

Now, on the Google side, I am absolutely shocked that a single login through this system allowed the attacker to not only connect to my account but to take it over so immediately and thoroughly.

I would have expected that any serious security changes, such as removing backup email addresses, changing passwords, or removing my mobile phone number as an authentication method, would have required me to confirm that. Clearly, the hacker had figured out a way to do this without requiring additional permissions, and Google, for all its security considerations, had a gaping backdoor method that hackers could take advantage of. In 8 minutes, all of this was done, and I had no way to stop it once I gave permissions through that popup login form.

I hope, if you are reading this, that you never encounter this sort of situation. Perhaps this warning will save someone from this type of digital disaster!

I have been very busy with my Architect Marketing Institute business development coaching program with my amazing partner Richard Petrie and our team, however I haven't put much energy into my Archicad work. It's time to adjust the balance, and share my gifts and passion about Archicad again with users around the world.

I've resumed teaching my Archicad Best Practices 2020 training course, continue to offer weekly Archicad Coaching Program small group webinars, as well as my monthly ARCHICAD USER webinar series.

MasterTemplate 25 will finally be released - I apologize for the delay in getting this out the door. Look for an announcement soon...

I'm back!

It was 1:30 am, and I felt bad in an odd sort of way, even lying down.
I knew that I needed to get this checked out by a doctor.

My pulse was racing at 93 beats per minute - my heart was struggling even as I rested quietly. My blood pressure was 161 over 95; very very high.

I finally told Le'ema what was going on. She asked me how I felt. I said I felt bad, that something was really wrong. She asked for more details, but there was nothing else I could really say to describe it.

I asked her to drive me to the emergency room at the local hospital at about 2 am.

We raced the 15 minutes to Marin General Hospital as I steadied my nerves, attempting to breathe slowly and fully.

My wife remained calm, although inside she was a wreck.
She is a "shero" (female hero) for getting me there safely!

At the Hospital Door

We walked up to the emergency room door and she announced to the nurse "My husband is having a heart attack."

It was very scary, although they treated us efficiently and quickly got me to an examination room. The EKG came back "abnormal" and Dr. Gin (who had rushed over from her nearby home) told me in a steady voice "you have serious heart disease, and we're taking you to the Cath Lab right away."

I had never been told that I had heart disease, this was a surprise.

The last time I had a complete physical checkup (4 years ago), I had been told my cholesterol was high and that I should start taking statin drugs to control it. I asked if I could reduce my cholesterol through diet instead, and was told "maybe, you can try"...so I took that as a go-ahead to make some small changes (such as eating oatmeal from time to time).

Big mistake. I never went back for a follow-up.

Here I am 4 years later, at the emergency room with a heart attack.

Stupid me.

Fixing me up...modern science at it's best

My wife was allowed in to see me before they took me to the Cath Lab. She was delighted to see the all female medical team, and as they wheeled me away Dr. Gin talked with her about my condition. Le'ema says Dr. Gin is a real "shero" for saving my life.

The Cath Lab is a short name for the Cardiac Catherization Laboratory, where they perform angioplasty procedures to open up cardiac arteries for people in distress like me. They placed my right arm in a sterile covering (a super-long glove) and proceeded to insert a catheter tube into an artery on my wrist, and snake it up to my heart.

It's incredible. I'm lying there awake (they only lightly sedate the patient) and listening to the medical team as they review the images onscreen showing my heart beating. The angiograms are somewhat like X-Rays, imaged using the CAT Scan machine that I'm lying on, using a radioactive contrast dye that they drip into my blood vessels.

After the procedure, I was shown the rather beautiful, intricate traceries of the blood vessels. Apparently my main artery, the one they call The Widowmaker, was 95% blocked. This severely limited the blood flow and caused the sensation of being short of breath - my heart was not getting enough oxygen, even as I breathed in as much air as I could.

I lay there for more than 2 hours as they planned and executed the procedure. There were complications and they had to figure out the best way to handle the most important blockages first.

Angioplasty opens up the arteries (which have been clogged with sticky plaque from the cholesterol and blood cells that get stuck on it) using a tiny balloon that pushes apart the artery walls. Then the balloon is removed and a stent (a tiny metal framework almost like a woven basket) is inserted and expanded. This keeps the walls separated so they don't collapse back down.

This process has only been in use for the past 25 or 30 years. Prior to that, a blockage like I had would have meant open heart surgery and multiple bypasses (extra blood vessels removed from another part of the body and placed in the heart to facilitate normal blood flow).

I am SO grateful that the doctors were able to handle this almost like magic - threading a tube through my body, with just a tiny insertion into my wrist!

After 2 hours they decided to give my body some rest; they had put in 3 stents, taking care of the emergency. They told me that I would get 2 more the next day, after my body rested and would be able to tolerate another procedure.

My wife had been in a waiting room nearby, all by herself. She was beside herself, not knowing whether I would survive. After 2 hours they came out and told her it had been a success, and she found her way up to my hospital room. She went home at 5 or 6 in the morning, and tried to sleep.

A 4 minute message from my hospital bed

Hospital Routine? Not Quite...

I settled into my new routine in the hospital - nurses coming at all odd hours, checking my "vitals" - blood pressure, heart rate and oxygenation of my blood; drawing blood; running additional EKG tests, and god knows what else.

A sweet young nurse came in later that morning to do a bedside echocardiogram. Just like the sonograms that are used to image the fetus in a pregnant woman, a metal device was rubbed slowly over my chest and shot sound waves into my body. Onscreen my heart revealed its structure and movement. It was bizarre and wonderful to see my beating heart onscreen.

She looked from all different angles, then paused in one area. One part of my heart wall was not moving as it normally should; it is in shock from the heart attack. It may recover full function - or not - they can't tell yet.

She looks deeper, and injects an albumen-based (non-radioactive) contrast dye through my intravenous feed.

This allows her to study an area that shows another issue - a clot, or thrombis.

This is somewhat serious - clots can grow or detach and move to another area such as the lungs or brain, and can be fatal.

They immediately put me on "blood thinners" to reduce that risk to a minimum. I'll be on these meds for a few months. The hope is that the clot will gradually dissolve as my heart returns to more healthy function.

I ask the cardiologists who come by my bedside whether I'll be OK. They say I will need to be careful, but they are hopeful that with the right meds, and better diet and moderate exercise, I'll be OK.

The next day, my brother tells me that he has 2 stents, put in 22 years ago. My cousin, age 90, tells me a similar story. I'm filled with hope, and so grateful that at age 67 I have been given another chance.

The Next Chapter

I love my life and my work - however I've let my work rule my day to day life to an unhealthy extent. Staying up until 1 or 2 am catching up on emails and answering support questions. Sleeping 6 or 7 hours then forcing myself to get back to work with just a coffee as my breakfast. No time for exercise, other than walking the dog.

Since I got out of the hospital one week ago, I've been walking several times a day, enjoying the fresh air on my own, or with our dog, or with my wife and the dog. I've been taking naps, sitting in the sun in our glorious, peaceful backyard.

I've started back to work, however I'm giving myself some slack...and stopping my nightly work shift well before midnight...

Of course, the real challenge will be how to prioritize health and relaxation while still getting the essential work done.

I've received so much support from family, friends, business associates, clients and "followers" (people who enjoy my free Archicad tutorials or other resources I share). Hundreds of messages of encouragement, and many stories of overcoming similar challenges. These boost my spirits.

I know I make a difference in this world, and that people care about me. I have much to live for, and am so very grateful to have some more time to enjoy and to share my gifts.

If you're reading this, please know that you are important to me. I wish you the best in your life, and that you may have abundant health and joy.

Don't be stupid like I was.

If you get medical advice, don't ignore it. None of us is a superman or superwoman. I have been healthy all my adult life, hardly ever getting sick. That didn't keep me from getting heart disease. "I shoulda known better..."

In humility, and with deep gratitude,
Eric

Learn how to total up areas of exterior walls, doors & windows based on orientation for energy analysis - creating a custom Orientation property, defining a custom schedule, and setting up a Graphic Override to check if everything is tagged consistently and completely.

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I want to thank Archicad user Richard Morrison for showing me this idea, and encouraging me to adapt and include it into MasterTemplate. Great ideas should be shared!

The August 2020 ARCHICAD USER webinar will feature two veteran users with different backgrounds and ways of approaching things. 

They will each show us how they work, and share tips and methods to save time and deliver better projects.

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For complete information, and to sign up, please visit the ARCHICAD USER website.

If you miss the live session, the recording will be posted on my YouTube channel as well as on the ARCHICAD USER site.