CES 2014: Intel renames McAfee to Intel Security

The fact that John McAfee’s antics have been causing Intel, the current owners of McAfee Antivirus, a whole lot of PR problems is a known fact. On Day 1 of the Consumer Electronics Show, Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich announced the end of the McAfee brand name now.

Intel plans to phase out the McAfee brand name for the security software suite and is replacing it with a simpler and more direct “Intel Security” brand name. However, this appears to be just a cosmetic change, especially since an Intel representative has confirmed to The Verge that the company that goes by the name McAfee will still hang around as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel.

This is John McAfee. Now, are you surprised by Intel’s move?

The rebranding of McAfee is slated to begin right away but the company estimates that it should take about a whole year for the process to complete. More importantly, the mobile version of the security software will now be free to use on iOS and Android devices. The red shield of McAfee Security, which we’ve been used to associating with virus protection, will remain, but only temporarily.

Intel’s move is not at all surprising see that over the past year, John McAfee, the eccentric millionaire and founder of McAfee has been in some hot water. He was evicted from his Portland apartment and slapped with a civil stalking complaint by a property manager in November. Even more interesting was his tryst with making a viral video called “How to Uninstall McAfee Antivirus”. The video was laced with the choicest abuses, use of drugs and display of guns with McAfee himself in the starring role. So there’s a general feeling that this change in branding has been a long time coming for Intel.