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John McAfee, the founder of security software vendor McAfee, has unveiled his new app privacy product.
The 68-year-old left McAfee in 1994 before Intel acquired the firm in 2010. In late 2012, John McAfee went on the run from Belize authorities following a well-documented incident.
Last year John McAfee published a strange video, ‘how to uninstall McAfee Antivirus’, prompting Intel to rebrand McAfee Antivirus to Intel Security earlier this year.
Now, John McAfee has set up a new company, Future Tense Central. He is working from a new office and has published a series of updates on his Twitter page, including the following:
Settled in new home office..Here's looking at you kid #dcentral #futuretense pic.twitter.com/yFXGUYJeSb
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) March 20, 2014
His company Future Tense Central has also tweeted details of its first product: DCentral1 (formerly known as Cognizant).
This is an app that analyses all the apps on a user’s smartphone and tells them what they’re doing (if they access the phone’s camera or contacts list, for example) and which apps ‘leak’ users’ private information.
@FTCCORP @officialmcafee pic.twitter.com/bNQ0F7GEmP
— Future Tense Central (@FTCCORP) March 20, 2014
DCentral1 helps you make safer decisions about the apps you use everyday. #johnmcafee #futuretense #dcentral1 pic.twitter.com/hnKqjiCUII
— Future Tense Central (@FTCCORP) March 20, 2014
Future Tense Central said in a statement: "Some applications need permissions in order to provide services to their users; however, often even well-meaning apps ask for much more access than they really need. Even if the app developer has good intentions, excessive permissions still pose a risk of exploitation.
"A virus can cause issues without us even wanting to install it – what happens when we willingly allow access to our information?
"With one touch, DCentral1 will scan the apps on your phone for permission allowances that may make your information vulnerable. After a few seconds, apps are listed and scored based on a points system; the higher the score, the greater the risk the app poses to the security of your information."
The DCentral1 app is due to launch soon on Google Play and the iOS App Store.
More details can be found in this video interview with John McAfee:
