Self-described "leading digital security expert" John McAfee appears to have video game sex scenes pornmade the age-old mistake of believing his Twitter direct messages were private.
Currently in a Spanish prison, awaiting extradition to the U.S. on charges of tax evasion, the renowned cryptocurrency shill was charged Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice with the additional charges of fraud and money laundering. Working against the noted bath salts fan is the fact that, as detailed in the accompanying complaint, the FBI got ahold of McAfee's unencrypted Twitter DMs in which he discussed, in detail, his various schemes.
At the heart of Friday's charges are two allegations. First, that McAfee engaged in multiple pump and dump schemes to drive up the price of specific altcoins and cryptocurrency tokens — without first revealing that he owned them, and in some cases outright denying that he did — in order to sell at an inflated price. Second, McAfee is accused of promoting initial coin offerings without disclosing that he was being paid to do so by the companies in question.
(Something similar tripped up Steven Seagal in Feb. of 2020.)
According to the DOJ complaint, McAfee's preferred pumping method of choice was Twitter – which brings us back to his direct messages.
Unlike, say, with the messaging app Signal, messages sent via Twitter direct message are not end-to-end encrypted. This means that, as we saw with 2020's Twitter hack, hackers, Twitter employees, and law enforcement officers with a warrant to do so can all access the content of those messages.
Which, if you're the "world's leading security expert" like McAfee and using Twitter as an integral part of your (allegedly) criminal scheme, might be worth keeping in mind. And yet.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
The complaint relies on, at multiple points, McAfee's own words — as etched in "private direct messages ('DMs') sent to or from MCAFEE's verified Twitter account" — to build its case against him.
From my review of DM communications recovered from the Official McAfee Twitter Account, I have learned that on or about December 17, 2017, the founder of Issuer-1 sent MCAFEE a DM asking MCAFEE to promote ICO-1 so that ICO-1 was not lost 'in the ocean of ICOs[.]' MCAFEE responded that he would agree to promote ICO-1 by 'tweet[ing] [a] reasonable numbers of tweets, which have a huge impact on the Cryptocurrency market' in exchange for substantial compensation.
Many of McAfee's tweets referenced in the complaint are still visible on Twitter.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
While McAfee's apparent willingness to blithely chat about (alleged) crime over direct message, combined with his self-purported security prowess, may seem like a comical contradiction, it points at a larger problem. Namely, the security of Twitter direct messages.
In July, following the major Twitter hack that saw the accounts of Elon Musk, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama pushing bitcoin scams, the Electronic Frontier Foundation laid out why Twitter's failure to end-to-end encrypt direct messages is such a monumental problem for all kinds of Twitter users — not just would-be crypto kings.
SEE ALSO: Someone paid $2.6 million in fees to move $134 worth of crypto and oops
"Twitter direct messages (or DMs), some of the most sensitive user data on the platform, are vulnerable to this week's kind of internal compromise," wrote the EFF. "That's because they are notend-to-end encrypted, so Twitter itself has access to them. That means Twitter can hand them over in response to law enforcement requests, they can be leaked, and — in the case of this week's attack — internal access can be abused by malicious hackers and Twitter employees themselves."
The "world's leading security expert," it would seem, could learn a thing or two from the EFF blog.
Topics Bitcoin Cybersecurity X/Twitter Cryptocurrency
Kansas City mayor spams Amazon with 1,000 reviews to secure HQ2Woman's thank you letter to her local bellringers leads to the loveliest gesturePeople are petitioning for Apple to take down games glorifying Duterte's war on drugsToday marks the last flight 666 bound for HEL on Friday the 13th. Would you take it?'Supernatural' is redefining itself in Season 13 by tackling the nature of good and evilDeveloping Hurricane Ophelia tracks toward Spain, IrelandRose McGowan has been suspended from TwitterRoaring Northern California wildfires outrun emergency response techOne Bitcoin is now worth more than $5,000Thirteen years in, Facebook says it will appoint its first black board memberAfter the 'Rick and Morty' sauce fiasco, Redditors share other stories of fan freak'Fear Factor' launched a free food truck you wouldn't race to check outSomeone traded a 'Rick and Morty' Szechuan sauce packet for a literal carStudent's door sensor makes dorm life a lot like a 'Seinfeld' episodeAll the women accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment / assaultDubai police force adds hoverbikes for emergency responseScrew your ratings: 'Megyn Kelly Today' is the best sh*tshow on televisionFacebook is opening up its most annoying feature to thirsty brandsDude mansplains Indiana Jones clothing to its costume designer, and it ends in such a failThis venture capital fund wants investors as passionate as philanthropists SF Holding lists on Hong Kong Stock Exchange · TechNode Best Prime member benefit: Sign up for a free 3 Peacock makes AI version of sportscaster Al Michaels for Olympic recaps Watch NASA test powerful motor for its moon megarocket AMD plans mobile chip entry with TSMC's 3nm process · TechNode Key executives depart as Baidu restructures healthcare division · TechNode Early Prime Day deal: Get $40 off the Amazfit GTR 3 smartwatch Zoom transitions to AI Amazon Prime Day 2024: Don't miss these book deals Scientists take photo of intriguing solar system using a colossal telescope Panama vs. United States 2024 livestream: Watch Copa America for free Webb space telescope uncovers supernova's hidden details BYD to roll out new India moon landing live stream: Watch Chandrayaan Wordle today: The answer and hints for June 27 NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang proclaims Greater Bay Area’s tech edge at HKUST ceremony · TechNode Best earbuds deal: Get Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II for $100 off Why landing a NASA spaceship on the moon is still so challenging Webb telescope stares at our galactic neighbor, sees spectacular view 'The Bear' Season 3: A guide to the new guest stars
2.7266s , 8613.7109375 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【video game sex scenes porn】,Steady Information Network