2014-01-07
Abstract
Rebranding will see McAfee name dropped from security products.
Copyright © 2014 Virus Bulletin
Intel has announced its intention to rebrand the McAfee Security product line – which in future will be known as Intel Security. The rebranding was announced by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show early this month.
The security software has borne the name of the founder of the firm that originally developed it since 1989 – despite John McAfee having departed from the business almost 20 years ago. In recent years, McAfee has hit news headlines as a result of his increasingly bizarre antics and escapades, and last year even released a YouTube video entitled ‘How To Uninstall McAfee Antivirus’, which culminated in him firing a bullet through a laptop. According to the BBC, his reaction to the news of the rebranding was emphatic: ‘I am now everlastingly grateful to Intel for freeing me from this terrible association with the worst software on the planet. These are not my words, but the words of millions of irate users.’
The security software itself will remain unchanged and will still bear the familiar McAfee red shield logo, with the rebranding process expected to take up to a year to complete. Krzanich also indicated that the company plans to make some components of the mobile versions of the software free to use on iOS and Android devices.
