John McAfee, the antivirus software pioneer who in recent years has been accused of murder, openly fought with the government of Belize, and recently acknowledged having “taken every drug,” is running for president of the United States.
McAfee, who has described himself as an “eccentric millionaire” filed the paperwork Tuesday, making his candidacy official with the Federal Election Commission. As campaign manager Drew Thompson told Ars Technica, McAfee is running on a what he’s calling his Cyber Party, and he touts competency with computer networks as a selling point.
In an interview with Wired, McAfee cited recent high-profile government hacks, like that of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), as evidence the government is out of touch with technology. “It’s clear that the leadership of our country is illiterate on the fundamental technology that supports everything in life for us now, that is cyber science, our smartphones, our military hardware, our communications,” he said.
McAfee also railed against those in the federal government and law enforcement who want to create so-called “backdoors” in encryption software, which “means allowing hackers easy access to anybody’s data,” as he said.
To be fair to anyone annoyed with McAfee’s anti-virus software, know that its namesake, who sold it years ago, agrees with you, as he illustrated in a NSFW video in 2013.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpRvaQsGIY8
Besides, he was never actually charged with murder.
Screenshot via John McAfee/YouTube | Remix by Jason Reed