McAfee is rebranding as 'Intel Security' & will offer some free products

As of today, Intel-owned security company McAfee is rebranding itself “Intel Security” and will change the payment structure for a few of its products.

“Intel plans to offer elements of McAfee‘s award-winning security solutions for mobile devices for free,” said Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich at the 2014 International CES tech trade show in Las Vegas today. “More details will be announced in the coming months.”

Intel bought McAfee for $7.68 billion in 2010 and preserved its branding. McAfee has since operated as a subsidiary of Intel and says it will continue to do so, working alongside existing employees already under the Intel Security moniker.

McAfee also confirms that it will keep its shield logo, “which represents the core values of security and protection.”

Why the change after three years of allowing McAfee to continue building under that brand? It’s likely that Intel wants to smooth out its own branding and become a well-known name within the security industry.

It also, however, could have to do with John McAfee, the security company’s founder. In the last two years, John McAfee has made headlines for an alleged murder in Belize, where he was living, and his subsequent escape from Belize. Furthermore he recently made this weird NSFW video.

He certainly wasn’t doing much to help the brand.

Intel explained that it wants to make “a safe digital experience for every person on Earth,” which is likely why it’s considering a freemium model for elements of its mobile security product suite.

This will put pressure on competitors, such as Symantec, which began its own restructuring process in 2013.

We have reached out to Intel Security for more on its free products and will update this post upon hearing back.