While employed by Lockheed in the 1980s, McAfee suffered a computer virus called the Pakistani Brain and began developing software to combat computer viruses. In the early days, he distributed his remedies free of charge, but later switched to the shareware business model. In 1987, he quit Lockheed and founded his anti-virus company McAfee Associates out of a house in Northern California; it quickly became the industry leader. This company later became Network Associates, a name it retained for seven years until it was renamed McAfee, which remains today as one of the leading anti-virus companies in the world.
