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John McAfee Tried to Trick Reporters Into Thinking He Hacked WhatsApp (gizmodo.com)

Posted by msmash on from the this-guy-for-president dept.

John McAfee, best known for creating McAfee security suite, apparently tried to trick journalists into believing that he is capable of breaking WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption and reading the private conversations. Gizmodo reports that McAfee tried to do so by sending journalists with compromised smartphones -- riddled with malicious tools such as keylogger. From the report: "[John McAfee was offering to a different couple of news organizations to mail them some phones, have people show up, and then demonstrate with those two phones that [McAfee] in a remote location would be able to read the message as it was sent across the phones," cybersecurity expert Dan Guido, who was contacted by a reporter trying to verify McAfee's claims said. "I advised the reporter to go out and buy their own phones, because even though they come in a box it's very easy to get some saran wrap and a hair dryer to rebox them."

61 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Feeding the hand that feeds you by dotslashdot · · Score: 1, Funny

    And in completely unrelated news, it turns out all viruses were created by antivirus software companies.

  2. But where? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Gizmodo reports that McAfee tried to do so by sending journalists with compromised smartphones

    But where did he send them?

    1. Re:But where? by msauve · · Score: 4, Funny

      You didn't even read the full summary... "to a different couple of news organizations..."

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    2. Re:But where? by msauve · · Score: 1

      Whoosh.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    3. Re:But where? by msauve · · Score: 1

      Don't you ever wonder why your friends are laughing and you just don't understand? It's true, Aspies don't recognize sarcasm, and have poor social skills.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    4. Re:But where? by TangoMargarine · · Score: 1

      Don't you ever wonder why your friends are laughing and you just don't understand?

      Not really.

      It's true, Aspies don't recognize sarcasm

      Ah, the good old Internet standby of calling anyone who disagrees with you illiteral/mentally ill. So what mental disorder causes you to be rude to everyone you meet online?

      have poor social skills.

      Not projecting at all...

      --
      Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
    5. Re:But where? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Ah, the good old Internet standby of calling anyone who disagrees with you illiteral/mentally ill. So what mental disorder causes you to be rude to everyone you meet online?

      Whoa there cowboy - Asperger's is not in any way shape or form mentally ill.

      They are differently abled, and some of those abilities are magnitudes more proficient that "normal" people.

      And normal ain't all that anyhow.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re:But where? by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Aspergers is in the DSM under Autism Spectrum Disorders. What would you call it? If it isn't a mental illness, than what is a mental illness?

      Coming from someone who has this disorder...

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    7. Re:But where? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Aspergers is in the DSM under Autism Spectrum Disorders. What would you call it? If it isn't a mental illness, than what is a mental illness?

      Coming from someone who has this disorder...

      If you want to call yourself mentlly ill, have at it. I've worked with and was friends with a number of Engineers who were Aspies". They weren't social butterflies. But they were good engineers. They lived, ate and breathed with us, just like everyone else, they didn't commit crimes. About the worst was there was a level a level of curiousity and concern about their difference. I refuse to call a highly competent and focused person as mentally ill. Differently and sometimes superiorly abled is what I would define aspies as.

      It's actually a positive outlook - and maybe that's why I got along so well, and vice versa. I recognized their contribution.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  3. Good for press by dejitaru · · Score: 1

    I used McAfee in the past, but I believe that was after John and the company parted. Besides that I never heard of him or read any news about him. For the past few years though I keep getting articles popping up about him. I have to give the guy credit for getting into the spotlight, at least he's more entertaining to read about than your standard celebrity.

    1. Re:Good for press by rudy_wayne · · Score: 1

      I used McAfee in the past, but I believe that was after John and the company parted.

      John left the company in 1994.

    2. Re:Good for press by dejitaru · · Score: 1

      Yeah, i figured I could have googled that... but meh....

    3. Re:Good for press by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I used McAfee in the past, but I believe that was after John and the company parted.

      John left the company in 1994.

      John left reality about the same time

  4. Con-Man by GrooveNeedle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It seems like he's trying to be a con-man, and doing a real bad job of it. I'm not sure if any of that is intentional, or it's just the voices in his head making him do asinine things.

    1. Re:Con-Man by ITRambo · · Score: 1

      An imaginary Insightful upvote for you since I don't have mod points at the moment.

    2. Re:Con-Man by Desler · · Score: 2

      That's what happens after taking bath salts.

    3. Re:Con-Man by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      It seems like he's trying to be a con-man, and doing a real bad job of it.

      the truth is we don't know what he was trying to do. maybe he was trying to point out that the media isn't tech savvy and it blew up in his face or maybe he did it for the lulz, we really don't know. the only thing we do know is that he's not a credible source of information.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    4. Re:Con-Man by OakDragon · · Score: 1

      He successfully tricked them into thinking he's a Presidential candidate.

      --
      Dark Reflection
    5. Re:Con-Man by Falos · · Score: 1

      I'm gonna say all of the above is true, simultaneously. You could debate about whether he's "a joke", or how much so, but legit or not his shenanigans are good for a laugh, which is more than I can say about the rackets and exploitation and malice of most Tech/Corporate headlines.

    6. Re:Con-Man by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      It seems to me that he was trying to show how easy it is to social engineer a defeat to security or the appearance of security.

    7. Re:Con-Man by OakDragon · · Score: 1

      He successfully tricked them into thinking he's a Presidential candidate.

      So did Trump, but he actually got his party's nomination. I can't imagine McAfee being nominated by the Libertarian Party.

      That's what we said about Trump!

      --
      Dark Reflection
    8. Re:Con-Man by Midnight_Falcon · · Score: 1

      He's trolling -- using the same technique Craig Wright used to scam Gavin into thinking that he was Satoshi Nakamoto -- the "brand new computer" trick. It's a very relevant and snarky troll based on current events, which is what he's been doing with his youtube videos etc. He's not insane, just eccentric and happy to troll on people.

    9. Re:Con-Man by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 1

      So did Trump, but he actually got his party's nomination. I can't imagine McAfee being nominated by the Libertarian Party.

      He won't. Gary Johnson has a pretty commanding lead. Still, even if he did, I'd vote for him before Clinton or Trump, because no matter how crazy he is, he's still better than either of them.

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    10. Re: Con-Man by Ilgaz · · Score: 1

      I agree that Gibson is more like a tabloid in security business but he did one thing good, he made ordinary people aware of the risks involved when they wonder around with open ports exposed to the internet. I believe the language he uses with all that sensational terms somehow made Joe Public install a free firewall to his Windows machine, that is a good thing.

      He also made people, ordinary non technical people aware of spyware.

      He claims some crazy things that is a fact and we all laugh when someone codes a GUI app in pure ASM& brags about it but let's all think about the dark ages when GRC.com was founded.

      I mean he did more good than harm.

  5. who else is up for this? by nimbius · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wanna see a cartoon or perhaps live action series where John McAfee and Steve Ballmer team up together for zany adentures. these guys are like the bill and ted of modern technology.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:who else is up for this? by raftpeople · · Score: 1

      Holy F! that would be damn funny!

    2. Re:who else is up for this? by eam · · Score: 1

      I imagine them getting into trouble every edition, with Steve Wozniak secretly swooping in, saving the day, and rescuing them each time. They would, of course, believe that they were the true heroes.

  6. Captain's log : Stardate 4351.5 by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    "App & App, whatsAPP?!"
    -- Kara, frustrated by the constant inquiries about Spock's APP

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  7. Sounds familiar by sims+2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    McAfee Says He Lied About iPhone Hacking Method To Get Public Attention
    https://apple.slashdot.org/sto...

    --
    Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    1. Re:Sounds familiar by Falos · · Score: 1

      He probably THINKS he killed his neighbor and scuttled his speedboat just to hide the evidence.

      Fortunately the apologetic flowers he sends the widow every year are black, so Bill is more confused than suspicious.

  8. it worked by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Cybersecurity Ventures has an article claiming it McAfee actually did it. So he managed to trick at least some of the reporters he talked to. Worth mentioning this is similar to the bitcoin/Craig Wright media trick.

    Here is a screenshot in case they realize their mistake and remove it later.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    1. Re:it worked by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Insightful

      John McAfee is mildly insane, but he gives me more entertainment per word uttered than most of the other people you see in the media. So keep going John, I'm waiting to see what weird thing you pull next.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:it worked by AdamThor · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Exactly! Someone should hire him to consult about some technology issue, and make a reality tv series about it. You might not even have to tell him you're doing it!

      "All the cameras? Well, Mr. McAfee we take security very seriously here at Setec Astronomy."

      --
      -- "Oh. This guy again."
    3. Re:it worked by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      . Now the real question is if physical possession of the device is a requirement for installing the keylogger, (in which case not a very high level risk), or if it can be loaded through via malicious website, (much higher level of risk). Unfortunately the article doesn't go into enough detail

      I don't know how he did it, but if you have ADB access, you can install a key-logger (I used to do that for my job). Another option is rooting a phone, install the key-logger, then unroot it.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  9. Grammar Much? by thewolfkin · · Score: 1

    Gizmodo reports that McAfee tried to do so by sending journalists with compromised smartphones -- riddled with malicious tools such as keylogger.

    Did someone a word here? What is this trying to say?

    --
    Just another second banana
    1. Re:Grammar Much? by zero_out · · Score: 1

      offering to a different couple of news organizations to mail them

      I RTFA, and this is an accurate quote. The grammar in article is as bad as the grammar in the summary.

    2. Re:Grammar Much? by MoFoQ · · Score: 1

      It IS a part of gawker media after all, where the bar is so low, it's just a pipe placed on the ground.

  10. Failure Abounds by cyriustek · · Score: 3, Insightful

    John McAfee is doing everything he can to and and be relevant in today's society, apart from actually creating anything and doing something productive.

    * He is a failed Libertarian candidate for President
    * He failed to decrypt iPhones for the FBI although he said he can do it.
    * He failed in decrypting whatsapp.
    * The software he originally wrote is a failed idea. (Who ever thought A/V signatures were a good idea other than a mad man.)

    It is too bad he could not move back to South America since he is now a known fraud and dog killer.

    1. Re:Failure Abounds by p.g.king · · Score: 1

      (Who ever thought A/V signatures were a good idea other than a mad man.)

      I guess the question is who is the madder, the person with that good idea, or the people who kept buying it and the people who bought out the concept making the original mad man pretty wealthy.

    2. Re:Failure Abounds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      * He is a failed Libertarian candidate for President

      He's one of several people running for the Libertarian nomination, he is not the candidate. The LP has not had its convention yet this year so hasn't picked a candidate yet.

    3. Re:Failure Abounds by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Although I think McAffee is a lunatic and probably a murderer, even a broken clock is right twice a day. It was hilarious to read about all the naysayers on "tech sites" denying that the iphone could be hacked. While I'm not sure McAfee has the skill to do it, he was right in that it could be done. If your phone can decrypt stuff and display it on the screen for you, then it must have a copy of the key (or keys) somewhere. There is no such thing as a "secure device" if you have physical access to it. There is only a spectrum of insecure devices ranging from least insecure to completely insecure. And of course he was proven right, and all those anonymous apple fanboys have yet more egg on their face.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    4. Re:Failure Abounds by eumoria · · Score: 2

      Didn't se say, quote, "I would eat my shoe on the Neil Cavuto show if we could not break the encryption on the San Bernardino phone."

      Shit, at least he could do that and we could get some entertainment out of him.

    5. Re:Failure Abounds by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      That's not how non-reversible math/encryption works.

      Computers are machines. Machines follow instructions. Nothing magical happens. If you have access to the machine you can read the instructions the machine is reading and better yet, you can get it to follow your own instructions. You don't have to brute force the strongly encrypted key if you can brute force the weak password. If you're watching the conversation the phone is having with itself, at some point it has to decide if the password you fed it was good or not. And then you've got the key. The proof of course, is that the phone was eventually hacked. People get so confused in the minutiae of encryption they forget the big picture - not seeing the forest for the trees. There is NOTHING man has made that he cannot unmake. NOTHING.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  11. Al-Queda Calls for the Execution of John McAfee by bkmoore · · Score: 4, Funny

    In other news, Al-Queda's calling for the execution of John McAfee to damage the U.S. economy and expose millions of computers to viruses.

    1. Re:Al-Queda Calls for the Execution of John McAfee by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      I can almost see their collective hands rubbing together in front of goatee'd pointy faces...

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    2. Re:Al-Queda Calls for the Execution of John McAfee by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      Just to be safe, they should probably also kill Peter Norton.

  12. The problem here is... by pruedz · · Score: 1

    ...Is not to try to be a smartass, is to think that everyone else is stupid.

  13. Huh? by jdavidb · · Score: 1

    I don't understand what they are trying to say here: "Gizmodo reports that McAfee tried to do so by sending journalists with compromised smartphones -- riddled with malicious tools such as keylogger." What? He sent compromised smartphones to journalists? He sent messages to journalists who already had compromised smartphones? keyloggerS?

    --
    Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
    1. Re:Huh? by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

      I *think* they are saying he sent compromised phones for them to use.

      Which is totally legit, hacking the end user is easier than hacking the technology, and often more effective.

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
  14. Signatures WERE a good idea with 286 CPU, 512K RAM by raymorris · · Score: 4, Insightful

    > Who ever thought A/V signatures were a good idea other than a mad man.

    They WERE a good idea. He did that in 1987. Intel was selling a lot of 286 processors. The same year IBM announced their first 386 computer, the PS/2, which came with half a MB of RAM and supported of to 4MB if you maxed out the upgrades.

    A year earlier the first virus for PC compatibles had come out, called Brain. By 1987 there were several viruses, perhaps a dozen or more. Nothing that caused destruction over a network, though, that wouldn't happen until year-end.

    If you're trying to identify a dozen or so programs, and you have maybe 2KB to spare, a simple lookup table of signatures seems like a pretty good way to do it.

  15. Re:Remind me again by sexconker · · Score: 1

    Remind me again - why the fuck do we need Unicode for a fucking apostrophe and why can't asshats accept the superior straight ' instead of the ugly angled "smart quote" style abominations?

  16. First line of the summary needs some work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    John McAfee, best known for being a crazy drug addict

    FTFY. McAfee's not best known for antivirus, he's best known for the crazy things he's done with the money he made making antivirus software.

  17. Distraction by axewolf · · Score: 1

    Distraction from the fact that he was suspected of murder

  18. Re:Remind me again by barbariccow · · Score: 1

    Microsoft Word automatically converts the apostrophe into their own code-page smart quote, originally to make things incompatible. You can tell who writes stuff in Word and pastes it. I don't understand why, but a whole lot of people do this.. You wouldn't believe how many times I've had to manually fix people making lists in word, pasting them into SQL directly, which crashes the application (rightfully assuming) the data to be ascii..

  19. Re:Remind me again by sexconker · · Score: 1

    It's one of the increasingly-many "features" I have to kill off in the Office suite. But, ideally, your application shouldn't be crashing when encountering malformed data. Realistically though the easier solution is to prevent the bad data from getting in. Why not replace any inserted data with an ASCII equivalent? Map common characters to sane characters, and replace anything not explicitly handled with a question mark, or simply remove it. Run this as a trigger on INSERT and UPDATE. As an added bonus, scold the user whenever it has to do a replacement. And as always, make sure your triggers handle multiple rows!

  20. saran wrap by GodWasAnAlien · · Score: 2

    saran wrap?

    Do people really seek a specific brand of plastic wrap?

    The best brand of plastic wrap, of course, is Cling-On brand plastic wrap.

    1. Re:saran wrap by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      Any kind of cling-wrap is wrong. What you want is SHRINK WRAP. If you received a phone in a box wrapped in household kitchen plastic wrap, you would suspect immediately that it had already been opened.

  21. At this point, I have to wonder by jenningsthecat · · Score: 1

    Did McAfee really write that anti-virus software? Or was it written by a Bangkok prostitute?

    --
    'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    1. Re:At this point, I have to wonder by LordWabbit2 · · Score: 1

      It was probably written while banging a prostitute.

      --
      There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
  22. Re:Remind me again by TheCarp · · Score: 1

    Seems this could be a very simple input filter when a story is submitted. Could even generate a warning and shit.

    --
    "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
  23. McAfee is a fuck-up by Dog-Cow · · Score: 2

    McAfee should suffer death by a million bee stings. He is an attention whore who deserves the worst the Universe has ever seen.