John and McAfee. History separately and together
It is hard to say what kind of associations the Macafi name is causing now: does one of the first computer antivirus programs on the market come to mind, or is this pretty guy in the KDPV who actually created the antivirus? What is John McAfee doing on the Intel blog? As many probably know, in 2010, Intel acquired McAfee, and in 2014 transformed it into a division of Intel Security. And now a new turn: McAfee is again becoming an independent company, 51% of whose shares belong to the American investment company TPG. It seems to us that now is the time to recall the history of the oldest anti-virus company and its eccentric founder.
Young years
As for John, his youth was dramatic (when the boy was 15, his father, who had great problems with alcohol, committed suicide) and filled with prohibited substances. In the intervals between uses, John created various businesses - the most successful among them was the service for the delivery of magazines to your home. In the 70s, McAfee moved to Silicon Valley, where he finally connected his life with the computer industry.
John McAfee cures an infected computer. Archival photo
In 1987, John founded McAfee (originally McAfee Associates) - by that time he had already worked as a programmer at NASA, Univac and Xerox (an architect of operating systems), and also at Lockheed Martin, where he began to work on antivirus. Fame came to McAfee in 1992, and it turned out to be of very dubious nature. John loudly stated that humanity is threatened by a new miracle virus called Michelangelo, which has worn out the hard drives of computers and has allegedly infected more than 5 million PCs. Throwing was a success: the computer world of panic swept, and sales of McAfee antivirus went up like a rocket. However, as time went on, nothing happened. People understood that they had been cheated. The director's joke cost the company dearly - her reputation fell below the baseboard along with sales.
Dashing 90s, zero turning points
After selling his stake in the company, McAfee began to live as if he wanted to be sure that his biography would accurately remove the adventure series. He moved to live in Belize, there he was suspected of producing drugs, sex crimes and murder. Arrested for illegal border crossing. He built an IT paradise in the desert to collect the best programmers and make the best software. I implemented a bunch of projects, from the social network to natural antibiotics - and all with the same result, more precisely, without any. In the end, he lost all his capital and faith in humanity. However, enough about the McAfee-man - too much he got into a mess. In the end, the company interests us no less.
McAfee Headquarters in Santa Clara, California, USA
Meanwhile, the company continued to grow without its namesake. Her interests are anti-virus protection, data encryption, network security. McAfee products were not only used on Windows workstations; The company also had a great influence on the Open Source community, offering solutions for Linux, FreeBSD and other operating systems. The development process was accompanied by numerous mergers and acquisitions. Thus, in 1997, by connecting McAfee Associates and Network General, the “joint venture” Network Associates was formed, which was engaged in, among other things, the development of network traffic analysis technologies. In 2003, Network Associates acquired IntruVert Networks, which dealt with network attack protection systems. Naturally, not without subtraction. In 2004, a major reorganization of the company was carried out, during which all its non-core assets were sold. Now McAfee was only concerned with protecting information. In order to symbolize the magnitude of the changes, the company returned the former name.
Present day
The next chapter in McAfee history is its acquisition in 2010 by Intel. The deal was big and loud, because at that time McAfee was the second most profitable antivirus company in the world and occupied 7% of the global market. What made Intel take such a step? We once wrote about its background : with the inclusion of hardware components, the computer protection system reaches a new level - the level when the protective components are more and more removed from the operating system they are defending. Thus, instead of indiscriminate "street fighting", there is a well-organized "serf" defense around the perimeter. At first, McAfee had the status of a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel, and Intel's protective technologies, such as, say, Anti-Theft Protection, went under her brand. After 4 years, the company became part of Intel, called Intel Security, under which it worked until very recently.
I think there is no need to talk in detail about the McAfee product lines, on the websiteeverything is written. Immediately proceed to the next key event in the history of the company, which became the pretext for writing this post. So, the McAfee brand is once again entering the market, now in the form of a joint venture, 51% of whose shares belong to the investment company TPG, and 49% to Intel. Changing the status of Intel Security has become part of the grand restructuring campaign of Intel; According to the management of the corporation, the status of an independent unit will allow McAfee to become more dynamic, which is vital in the computer security industry. We wish another reincarnation of McAfee creative success.
John McAfee Sample 2016
Well, what about our John? As they say, he took up his mind and stopped using substances - it’s time to move on to a healthy lifestyle, because just the other day McAfee will knock 71 (happy birthday, John!). He returned to business and in early 2016 became CEO of a small company MGT Capital Investments, which he immediately renamed to John McAfee Global Technologies, thereby doubling the number of companies named after himself. As for John McAfee Global Technologies, it is a surprise! - engaged in the fight against malicious mobile applications. Will Makafi repeat his success? Time will tell.