Computer software pioneer John McAfee speaks with reporters outside his hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. Reuters/Joe Skipper John McAfee is running for president as a member of the Libertarian party. This is an op-ed he wrote and gave us permission to run.

Jeb Bush recently penned an article about cybersecurity for Business Insider. My reaction at first was horror, then lethargy and finally depression. The first serious candidate to speak out about their cybersecurity platform shows an utter lack of understanding of what is really happening in the cybersecurity world.

I am depressed, because Jeb Bush is a smart man - more clever than perhaps the front runners in both parties. If his understanding of our position is as described in his policy statement, then our best move is to immediately surrender to the Chinese or the Russians and hope for mercy.

The first thing that I noticed is that Mr. Bush views cyber attacks as an economic problem, and the attacks themselves as acts of theft. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Peter Vincent Pry, a member of the Congressional EMP Commission and executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, testified before congress, that an EMP attack - a crude type of cyber warfare that could wipe out our power grid - would kill 90% of Americans within two years.

Most high ranking Defcon attendees cite the number at greater than 99%. (Defcon is the largest hacking conference in the world, drawing 50,000 attendees to Las Vegas each year). I keynoted Defcon last year.

An EMP attack is a crude sort of cyber attack involving electro magnetic pulses. Far more sophisticated is the weaponized software in possession of the Russians and the Chinese, that can destroy America in the same fashion, but stage the destruction in such a way that the Russians or Chinese can pick up the valuable segments of our economy instead of destroying them. That’s why the likelihood of an EMP attack is virtually non existent in most hackers minds.

Weaponized software will first take out our power grid - permanently. Followed by taking out our food delivery infrastructure and our water systems. Then our military communications will be permanently taken down, along with civil communications and all emergency services. The attacking power will then wait - most hackers believe the wait will last three months. When the majority of our nation is starving and afflicted with cholera and all other diseases that follow the destruction of water purification systems, the attacking power will simply walk in calmly and regenerate those industries that appeal to them and virtually enslave whatever remains of the population that appeals to them.

This is not a fantasy. It is a real as the nose before your face.

Of greatest interest to me was the fact the “Weaponized software ” - software designed to destroy physical entities or to directly kill people through automated control systems, was not even mentioned by Bush in either his article or or his cybersecurity platform.

Cybersecurity. Flickr

I would like to point out a few of Mr. Bush's statements and explain why I was depressed:

“The backbone of US intelligence efforts and frontline defense against cyber attacks are the talented intelligence professionals and law enforcement officers who work tirelessly in the shadows to identify, deter, and respond to cyber attacks.”

First: intelligence professions, law enforcement and the police, and rhe programmers who work for them, write terrible software - which is the “deterrence” element in his statement. As to “response”, there is never anything to respond to. The greatest hackers have never been caught because they can never be identified or even located at a specific point on the planet. Those who have been caught, like Kevin Mitnik and others, are considered by most hackers to be totally incompetent and not worthy of the name. A great cannot be caught. Get used to this.

So we are left with protection. And if you believe that law enforcement protects, then find the magic button in your home that, when a burglar has a gun in your face. You can push the button and a policeman will magically materialize between you and the burglar. Law enforcement comes into play after you have been shot and they then attempt to solve the crime.

When the Chinese or Russians, which are decades ahead of us in cyberwar. Press their magic button, there will be no law enforcement left in America to respond.

This is not a law enforcement or intelligence problem. We will never know from where or by whom the next cyberattack will come. But it will come and it will likely be a nation state. And law enforcement must stay entirely out of the mix.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security analysts work at the National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) located just outside Washington in Arlington, Virginia. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

The next statement Bush makes is:

“Fix the vulnerabilities of government systems, and hold government leaders accountable for the security of information entrusted to their care.”

How can anyone be accountable for the tools that are given with which to do their job? If the government gives you no cybersecurity tools, can you be held responsible for cybersecurity? This is utter, complete madness. The government needs a dedicated Office of Digital Transformation. And this office CANNOT be staffed by anyone currently within the government. The inexcusable hacks within our government should prove there is no one within the government capable if fixing this.

The technologists within our government are old, tired and have reached the end of their productive life. A good digital technologist, given the rapidly evolving field, spends six out of every twelve months per year training themselves, formally or otherwise. I spend more than 8 months per year. The Government has not done this for their employees. This is why we are decades behind the Chinese.

Here's my fix for this entire cyberwarfare problem.