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McAfee founder tweets 'hack' of his account

Hackers allegedly compromised John McAfee's Twitter account to promote cryptocurrencies.

Zoey Chong Reporter
Zoey is CNET's Asia News Reporter based in Singapore. She prefers variety to monotony and owns an Android mobile device, a Windows PC and Apple's MacBook Pro all at the same time. Outside of the office, she can be found binging on Korean variety shows, if not chilling out with a book at a café recommended by a friend.
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Zoey Chong
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John McAfee says his Twitter account was compromised by hackers, adding he's a target for them.

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John McAfee may be a security expert, but hackers have proven he's not infallible.

On Wednesday, the man tweeted that his Twitter account was compromised, adding in a subsequent post that he has "no control" over security on the platform. McAfee told BBC he knew his phone had been compromised when he saw an alert on it that read, "SIM not provisioned MM #2."

The perpetrators had used McAfee's account to promote lesser known cryptocurrencies, recommending them in rapid, successive posts, according to BBC . McAfee -- an expert on cryptocurrencies -- recommends a "coin of the day" to his followers that usually increases in value after his endorsement.

The posts were allegedly written by the hackers, which BBC said are now deleted, came after McAfee said he would reduce his recommendations to a weekly basis. His next pick is due on Jan. 1.

McAfee's claims come after he announced in April that he intends to build the "world's first truly private smartphone," which he says will be the "most hack-proof smartphone" ever made. Other security experts jumped on the chance to make fun of him, including Marcus Hutchins (better known as MalwareTech), the 23-year-old who briefly slowed the WannaCry attack this year.

Some expressed skepticism about McAfee's account being hacked, and several users highlighted he hasn't been the most credible person online. In one example, McAfee tweeted he doesn't have an Instagram account although it was announced on his Twitter account that he opened one last January. He said the post was written by a rogue employee with ill intentions.

Neither Twitter nor McAfee responded to requests for comments.

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