CYBER SECURITY PIONEER
Did John McAfee invent anti-virus software?
JOHN McAfee was best known in his later years as an alleged fugitive who was found dead in a Spanish prison in June 2021.
However, it was his contribution to technology that made the computer whiz infamous.
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Did John McAfee invent anti-virus software?
John McAfee, who died at the age of 75, was the creator of McAfee antivirus software.
British-born McAfee, who was born in Sling, Gloucestershire in England, was one of the engineers of California’s Silicon Valley during the 1980s electronics boom.
McAfee's claim to fame in the software industry was that he offered the first all-in-one computer virus scanner, said Vesselin Bontchev, a Bulgarian computer scientist and an early antivirus researcher.
Before that, researchers would only scan for one virus at a time.
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But there were only about a dozen computer viruses back then, he added.
"Technologically, as a scanner, it wasn't anything outstanding.
"It was just the general idea that was good. Not the implementation," said Bontchev.
An old black-and-white picture of McAfee shows the then-computer analyst holding a stethoscope to an IBM-type computer.
The computer has a frowny face on its screen.
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He is sitting on a bed with an ice pack on top of the computer to illustrate that computers, like people, could also be plagued by viruses.
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When did he set up McAfee?
The first virus he tackled head-on was called the Pakistani Brain virus, and he told the BBC in a 2013 interview: "When I first read about the Pakistani Brain virus, I'd never heard of a virus before, neither had anyone in technology.
"It fascinated me."
In 1987, he founded his famous McAfee anti-virus software company.
He created a brilliant product structure, giving away the product for free but then charging for customer support.
It was an instant hit, right as PCs were becoming mainstream.
He sold his stake in the company in 1994 for $100million, according. to .
The outlet also added that his personal fortune plummeted to about $4million following the 2007 financial crisis.
Four years later, California chipmaker Intel bought McAfee’s company in 2011 for $7.68billion.
For a time, it sought to dissociate the brand from its controversial founder by folding it into its larger cybersecurity division.
But the rebranding was short-lived, and in 2016, Intel spun out the cybersecurity unit into a new company called McAfee.
Jaime Le, a McAfee company spokesperson, said in a statement: “Although John McAfee founded the company, he has not been associated with our company in any capacity for over 25 years.
"That said, our thoughts go to his family and those close to him.”
Is there a new documentary coming out about McAfee?
Netflix announced in July 2022 that a new documentary would be released about McAfee's life.
It will be released on August 24, 2022.
The documentary is called Running With the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee, and it follows McAfee's post-Silicon Valley life, including his time on the run from authorities in multiple countries.
All of the content featuring McAfee is the real deal, too.
Film of the late software genius was at the ready, as he had filmmakers sail through the Caribbean and across international borders with him, hoping to one day tell his story to the world.
McAfee was reportedly known for being eccentric and also incredibly paranoid.
McAfee was living in Belize when his neighbor was murdered.
He became an alleged suspect in the killing but claimed that whoever had killed his neighbor was likely targeting him.
Further, he claimed that the US government was allegedly attempting to murder him.
Per : "With exclusive access to hundreds of hours of previously unseen footage and in-depth accounts from the people who knew him best, the doc follows McAfee as he travels deep into the Belizean rainforest, across international borders, up river in the jungles of Guatemala and through the Bahamas on a boat loaded with guns, drugs and alcohol, trying to stay one step ahead of the alleged pursuers."
What happened to John McAfee?
McAfee was found dead in June 2021 from an apparent suicide.
However, the ever-eccentric McAfee had warned friends and followers just months before his death that if he was ever found dead from suicide, he'd actually been murdered.
In an October 2020 tweet, McAfee said: "If I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine."
He was referring to Jeffrey Epstein, the high-profile financier and convicted sex offender, who was found dead in his cell in August 2019.
He also died by suicide, but many people, including McAfee, believed that Epstein didn't actually kill himself and was actually murdered.
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The warning before McAfee's death and the similar nature of their deaths turned into conspiracy theories to McAfee's followers, who claimed that he'd been right to suspect the government of allegedly wanting him dead for a long time.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
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