McAfee spins out of Intel to become an independent cybersecurity company

In an age where more devices are connected to the Internet, and to each other, users need a lot more help from cybersecurity providers to tackle evolving digital threats, a senior executive at McAfee told CNBC on Wednesday.

The security software company, founded by American computer programmer John McAfee, has been around for three decades but was acquired by Intel between 2010 and 2011. This week, it became a new, jointly-owned independent cybersecurity company, with alternative asset management firm TPG owning a 51 per cent stake and Intel retaining 49 per cent. The deal was announced last September, and valued the business at approximately US$4.2 billion.

“We spin out today to become a standalone — one of the largest standalone security companies globally, so we’re very excited,” Gavin Struthers, global SVP and Asia Pacific president at McAfee, told CNBC’s “ The Rundown “ on Wednesday.

Asia Pacific — which is split between mature markets like Singapore and Australia and emerging Asia, where security levels are not as comprehensive — is a “hyper-growth” market for McAfee, according to Struthers.

He also reckoned no one is safe from hackers — from families at home trying to raise their children in a hyper-connected world to small and medium businesses, large corporations and even governments. “The bad actors are more sophisticated and they’re coming after not just for profit, but sometimes for principle,” he said.

That is where Struthers said McAfee can help with its numerous security technologies.