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McAfee Says He Lied About iPhone Hacking Method To Get Public Attention

blottsie writes: McAfee, who founded of one of the first companies to offer antivirus software, claimed on CNN and Russia Today, as well as in a Business Insider column, that he could bypass the advanced encryption protecting the phone without Apple's help. But he lied in these interviews, he said in an interview with the Daily Dot, to "get a shitload of public attention."

4 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Re:McAffee admits he did something to get attentio by NotInHere · · Score: 5, Informative

    He is trying to get attention by being honest? That's brand new it seems.

  2. Re:Yes by Anubis+IV · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ayup. The only thing noteworthy about the earlier press was the fact that he was being taken seriously, despite pulling stunts along these lines for years. The guy wants the spotlight and yearns to be seen as relevant. That time is long-since past, if it was ever here at all.

  3. Re:So, he's a lying asshole... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's John McAfee. Okay, so maybe it was believable; but if you're honestly surprised by the follow-up, you haven't been paying attention. This is a guy who posted a video on Youtube where he talked about banging underaged girls and smoked a bunch of meth.

    McAfee isn't out to defraud people; he's just out to be a loud caricature. I'm sure some day he'll say something serious in a sensational and ridiculous way; I'm equally sure he'll keep saying things that sound serious and then turn out to be just noise, because that's what he does now. He doesn't get attention because people believe him; he gets attention because he's interposed himself into a situation and drawn attention to himself, and we all recognize the act. You *can* play off that act honestly, but it's not a requirement.

  4. Re:President by supremebob · · Score: 5, Informative

    The big difference between him and most politicians is that he's willing to admit when he's lying. Someone like a Trump or a Clinton would just say that they were just being "misunderstood", or that the media "took them out of context".