“Former antivirus developer and presidential wannabe John McAfee claimed a couple of weeks ago to have the perfect solution to the FBI-Apple stand-off. He offered to crack the iPhone for the FBI for free,” Peter Bright reports for Ars Technica. “This would let the government agency gain access to the phone while freeing Apple from any demands to assist. So confident was McAfee of his ability to help out that he said he’d eat a shoe on TV if he couldn’t get into the phone.”
“It will probably not come as much of a surprise to anyone to learn that the FBI has not been beating down McAfee’s door,” Bright reports. “In an interview with Russia Today in which he is unironically introduced as a ‘cybersecurity legend’ and currently running to be nominated as the presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party (an association that frankly does neither party any favors), he outlined the real technique that he’d use to crack the phone, and it turns out to be a super convenient ‘half hour job.’ McAfee only said it’d take three weeks because he didn’t want to have to eat his shoe if a cold or flu interrupted him.”
“Given the simplicity of this approach one might well wonder why the FBI hasn’t done this already. The answer turns out to be straightforward: as some of our more astute readers may have noticed, it’s a load of drivel,” Bright writes. “What he’s proposing isn’t just wrong; it’s not even in the same zip code as the truth.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: How about baked, John? Grilled?
SEE ALSO:
John McAfee reveals how the FBI can unlock an iPhone in 30 minutes – March 2, 2016
John McAfee blasts FBI for ‘illiterate’ order to create Apple iPhone backdoor – February 23, 2016
Libertarian U.S. presidential candidate John McAfee offers to unlock terrorist’s iPhone for FBI – February 19, 2016Can the FBI force a company to break into its own products? No, says U.S. Magistrate – March 2, 2016
FBI Director Comey now claims ‘mistake made’ in changing San Bernadino terrorist’s Apple ID password – March 1, 2016
U.S. Congress likely to side with Apple vs. FBI in iPhone unlocking fight – March 1, 2016
Why did the FBI direct the San Bernardino Health Department to reset Syed Farook’s Apple ID? – February 22, 2016
Turing Award winners advocate for encryption; back Apple vs. U.S. government overreach – March 1, 2016
Mark Cuban: Why Apple must win vs. the FBI; in the United States of America, we have rights – March 1, 2016
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch plays disinformation card in iPhone unlocking fight – March 1, 2016
The FBI’s case against Apple got kneecapped in Brooklyn: The judges rebuke couldn’t have been stronger – March 1, 2016
U.S. Magistrate Judge: The U.S. government cannot force Apple to unlock an iPhone in New York drug case – February 29, 2016/blockquote>