Digital technologies are increasingly penetrating into various areas of human activity. Along with this, there was a need to protect information from intruders. American programmer John McAfee was the first person to implement the protection of computers from unauthorized access by creating the first antivirus.
Now the programmer-entrepreneur is actively promoting digital currencies as a safe and transparent method of payment.
Youth McAfee
John was born on September 15, 1946. A few years later, his family from the British county of Gloucestershire emigrated to the United States, to the small town of Salem, Virginia.
When John was 15 years old, his father, suffering from alcoholism, committed suicide, and the young man had to somehow settle in life. Having the makings of a mathematician, he is hired by a company that produced one of the first types of software - punched cards. Here he learns the basics of programming. Then inof the Missouri Pacific Railroad, he draws up algorithms for the operation of railway equipment according to the train schedule.
Simultaneously, John begins to use psychedelic drugs and, in order not to cause an accident, decides to quit.
At the origins of computer security
Moving to Silicon Valley, John McAfee develops UNIVAC software.
The drug addiction is entering a new phase. To stimulate performance, he switches to cocaine. At the same time, while working at NASA, he encounters the first virus written by Pakistani programmers, the Alvi brothers. According to legend, a malware written for MS-DOS was supposed to harm the computers of scammers who were stealing software from their firm. But it so happened that the virus spread throughout the United States, causing damage to 18,000 computers.
This circumstance inspired programmer John McAfee to write the first anti-virus program, and in 1989 he created McAfee Associates, a company that produces such utilities. He successfully runs a public relations campaign to advertise a new product, promising users who do not use protection an imminent Michelangelo malware apocalypse.
In 1990, McAfee Associates was almost alone in its segment. The only competition was Peter Norton Computing, which later became known as Symantec. At the same time, McAfee Associates enters the stock market, having received a multi-billion dollarprofit.
After 2 years, John sells his $100 million stake in the company.
Heavenly camp
After selling his business to Microsoft, McAfee started trying new businesses. By that time, he had developed a certain life position, which he called "Relational Yoga". He then released a series of books describing this philosophy. Along with this, he builds several airstrips in Arizona and opens a hang gliding school called Sky Gypsies. McAfee arranges flying entertainment on motorized hang gliders. Sometimes the number of participants reaches 200 people. Before flying, they make a route of about 100 km, then fly it, trying not to rise above 10 meters.
The activity of the flight school ended in tragedy. Nephew of John McAfee crashed in one of the voyages. Together with him, his passenger Robert Gilson, who himself was a pilot of the US Air Force, died.
The Gilson family sued McAfee for entrusting a man's life to an inexperienced pilot, resulting in a $5 million lawsuit against him.
Moving to Belize
In 2008, the economic crisis swept the world, hitting both ordinary people and celebrities with multi-million dollar fortunes. He did not bypass the programmer either. The collapsed real estate market reduced John McAfee's net worth to $4 million.
John decides to move to Central America to set up a plant-based drug business.
Forthe development of biologists Greensberg and Basler, describing the "sense of quorum" in bacteria, was taken as the basis. According to her, microorganisms communicate and coordinate actions using signaling molecules. If this communication is disrupted, then the coherence of the actions of bacteria can be knocked down.
However, the idea with the pharmaceutical laboratory failed. By the time he moved to Belize, McAfee was firmly on hard drugs, which could not end well.
Tangled story
In 2012, John's neighbor, Gregory Vaent Fall, was murdered. McAfee was the prime suspect. According to neighbors, he was often high and behaved rudely. He was constantly seen shooting at his site with a gun. John's name has often appeared in the press in connection with prostitution and drugs.
When the local police wanted to question him about the murder of a neighbor, McAfee fled in an unknown direction. Later, in an interview with Wired magazine, he said that he fled, realizing that he would be accused of the murder. Even though it's not his fault. Moreover, according to his version, the killers came precisely for his soul, but mistakenly mixed up at home. A little earlier, he admitted that he contacted local mafiosi, and one of them wanted to kill him, but he managed to solve the problem. Who is John McAfee - perpetrator or victim?
Escape to Guatemala
In 2012, John was involved in another case involving illegal possession of weapons. Then the police found 20 thousand dollars in cash in his house. As well as 7 firearms and packs of cartridges forhim.
He was suspected of links with drug cartels and in the production of psychotropic substances. However, no drugs were found in the laboratory, and a permit was found for weapons.
After John McAfee was declared the prime suspect in Fall's murder, he went into hiding in Guatemala. There, local authorities, announcing the programmer's illegal stay in the country, take him under arrest. After some time, he will be deported to the USA.
Return Home
After returning to his homeland, John began to receive many letters of complaint from users of Microsoft software. They were unhappy with the fact that when installing software, McAfee antivirus was always installed in the load, and its use requires a paid license.
John McAfee, who hasn't de alt with antivirus for over 20 years, decided to respond in his own way, starring in a controversial video where he explains what he thinks about this software and what should be done with it. The video contained scenes of a sexual nature, drug use, and profanity.
As before, he continues to use psychotropic substances. He is arrested for driving under the influence of drugs. On social networks, he explains this by saying that the Xanax drug he was under the influence of was prescribed by a doctor, and he did not know about its psychotropic effect.
McAfee dispute with Intel
In 2015, John gets involved intrial. With the purchase of McAfee Associates, Intel acquired the rights to use McAfee's name in its products and rightly considered it an exclusive right. When John decided to rename MGT Capital Investments, where he was CFO, to John McAfee Global Technologies, Intel management considered it an attack on their brand. McAfee filed a lawsuit to use his name.
The proceedings were subsequently settled amicably. John agreed with Intel management that he can use his name in the names of companies and commercial products in case they are not related to computer security.
Participation in politics
In 2016, all national newspapers in the United States featured a photo of John McAfee as a picture of the man who ran for president.
Being one of the promoters of cryptocurrencies, he registered the "Cyber Party". John ran for the Libertarian Party, but lost to his opponent Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico.
In response to a comment from a reader, McAfee tweeted: “Of course, I understand that my chances of becoming US President are minimal. However, America is not made by the president, but by the process of choosing him. When I run, I have many ways to reach a lot of people.”
Most likely, for John, the presidential election was a way to convey to the people the importance of cryptocurrencies in modernworld.
Despite losing, McAfee plans to run for president again in 2020
John McAfee and Cryptocurrency
John is a big fan of digital money. In his opinion, they are the only way to end the regular collapses of national currencies, which are specially created by artificial means. He assures that the cost of crypto coins will only grow, and by 2020 half of humanity will actively use them in calculations.
John is popular among people involved in mining. His statements on Twitter about the reliability of a particular cryptocurrency lead to a rise in its value.
McAfee relies on his own research into currency reliability in his assertions. To determine it, he uses the following criteria:
- How skilled is the team promoting the currency.
- Security, as well as how much he himself would like to use this cryptocurrency.
However, he himself does not exclude the fallacy of his statements.
John McAfee's predictions are amazing. For example, he predicts that the value of one bitcoin by 2020 will be $1 million. A little earlier, he predicted a cost of $500,000.
Saying like this is a growth factor in itself.
In 2017, there was a correction in the growth of cryptocurrencies. In this regard, John makes statements that a deep fall will not happen anyway - there have always been fluctuations, there areand will. He lays the main blame for what happened on the financial structures of India and China, which decided to limit the activities of cryptocurrency exchanges. The fact is that it is unprofitable for banking structures to deal with a currency that they cannot influence.
Emission of money is handled by central banks. They can issue or hold back the issuance of coins by adjusting inflation. With cryptocurrency, the situation is different: it is mined by enthusiasts using computer equipment. Banks cannot influence this process. Hence the desire to outlaw digital currency.
McAfee vs Bankers
This situation can be illustrated by the following story. In 2017, the chairman of the board of directors of the oldest bank JP Morgan, in his public statement, said that cryptocurrency is a soap bubble that is not backed by anything. The next day, bitcoin quotes fell by 40%. McAfee then issued a response statement in which he presented the situation from a different angle:
Look, to get 1 bitcoin, I spend $2,000, while to issue a $100 note, the federal system spends 5 cents, which is also unbacked. So what is a soap bubble?
The biography of John McAfee is full of events: he was a drug addict, put on the international wanted list three times and accused of serious crimes. He has 49 children, according to his own assurances, he visited 30 prisons in different countries, he was persecuted, but still he always remained afloat. Will it opensomeday John, what is the secret of his unsinkability?
