Cybersecurity expert and United States presidential candidate John McAfee has offered to decrypt a San Bernardino shooter's iPhone for the FBI for free. The developer of the world's first commercial anti-virus software would hack the mobile device gratis to avoid the need for Apple to place a back door on its smartphone.
McAfee worked for NASA, Xerox, and Lockheed before his startup company McAfee released the first version of VirusScan in 1987. He is now the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate.
The cybersecurity expert is siding with Apple Inc. He supports Apple's battle with the FBI about creating a backdoor to access the locked iPhone 5c of the dead terrorist Sayad Farook, who launched the San Bernardino attack last December, according to Cult of Mac.
Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people during a mass shooting during an office party in the Southern California city. After the attack the terrorists were killed in a gun battle with local police.
McAfee opposes Apple being required to unlock the mobile device, but thinks he should be allowed to hack it. He wrote an open letter about Apple CEO Tim Cook's rejection of the FBI request.
McAfee has offered the services of his hacking team to unlock the iPhone device of the shooter. He claimed if his crew could not get the job done in three weeks and prevent the end of the U.S. he would eat a shoe on live TV, according to Ars Technica.
McAfee's elite team reportedly includes the world's best hackers. One-quarter are coders and the rest of the team are social engineers.
This week there was a big event in the battle between Apple and FBI about the decrypting of Farook's iPhone. A U.S. judge ordered Apple to create software to unlock the shooter's handset for the FBI.
Unlocking the Apple smartphone could provide key information about the contacts and goals of the terrorists. However, many groups are siding with Apple. They include security experts, Silicon Valley companies, civil rights groups, and Apple fans who argue if the tech giant obeys the FBI request it would end today's mobile privacy.
McAfee's plan would be a win-win situation. Apple could avoid creating a backdoor that law enforcement and malicious hackers could use many times, while the FBI would get more data about Farook and his contacts.
Here's an explanation of backdoors: