BlackCert launched to modest fanfare last month selling Internet encryption technology.

But Denver’s newest security firm is not just any startup — it’s backed by one of the biggest names in security: John McAfee, whose namesake anti virus software is installed on computers everywhere.

Even as BlackCert’s co-founder and president John Casaretto spends his time running a mostly virtual operation that employs 12, he realizes it’s difficult to ignore the other John.

McAfee, who went into hiding after Belize authorities wanted to question him for the 2012 murder of a neighbor (he was never charged), announced last week that he is running for U.S. president under the newly created Cyber Party.

The Internet security magnate’s life after McAfee Associates has become a modern legend. He abandoned Silicon Valley in the mid-1990s, moving to Woodland Park and opening a yoga retreat. By the late-2000s, he sold off all his properties, including the 280-acre Colorado compound, and moved to Belize and started a lab to develop new antibiotics made from herbs.

In 2012, a Wired magazine reporter wrote about McAfee’s escapades and paranoia, how he surrounded himself with guns and girls and played Russian roulette with a loaded gun in front of the writer.

McAfee is back in the U.S. now, calling Lexington, Tenn., home. His presidential campaign headquarters are in Opelika, Ala.

“That’s been a big part of why companies have come to us,” said Casaretto, who met McAfee while writing for Siliconangle.com and also lists “Senior Campaign Manager, McAfee for President” on his LinkedIn profile. “The name is synonymous with security and trust. There are a lot of people who are fans of him, his rebel attitude.”

BlackCert sells SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates, essentially the “S” in encrypted websites that start with “https.” SSL verifies that a person or company’s website is really from that person or company. Most, including BlackCert, offer the more secure TLS, or Transport Layer Security. SSL is being abandoned because of vulnerabilities.

BlackCert aims to raise awareness for better validation and improve the security of the Web. This week, it dropped its price to $16 for its certificate, from $29. Its premium extended verification certificate checks physical locations and other identity records to validate the requestor.

The company’s own extended validation certificate, however, notes a RiNo address of another company. Casaretto said he temporarily used a former colleague’s address — which that company verified — because he works from home and didn’t want his home address public.

Many companies offer security certificates, and more than one person in the security community called BlackCert’s offerings “nothing special.”

“It seems like they have a lot of offerings but a lot of other certificate authorities have similar offerings,” said William Budington, a software engineer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

EFF is working with Mozilla, Cisco, the makers of WordPress and others to offer a free TLS certificates at LetsEncrypt.org. It, too, wants better security online with easier SSL installation.

“It’s a laborious process (to install). It’s not very straightforward even for folks who are technically apt,” Budington said. “We want to make encryption as the default on the Web, not the exception.”

Reached in Australia on Tuesday where he said he was speaking to legal professionals, Mc Afee said that while he is a partner in BlackCert, Casaretto runs the operation.

“At the present moment, I’m working 28 hours a day on the campaign. I had no idea it was this time consuming,” said Mc Afee in a familiar deep, throaty voice. “If I become president, I will have to abandon my security business.”

BlackCert is only one piece of McAfee’s security empire. He runs Future Tense Central, a security and privacy company that consolidates all sorts of security tools.

Its portfolio includes D-Vasive, a mobile app that keeps other apps from spying on the user; Chadder, which encrypts text messages; and STTarx, which touts a “totally secure intranet” for companies.

Even if McAfee gives up his security business if elected, he’s not abandoning technology.

“Politics and technology I hope are going to be closer partners in the future,” he said.

“That is one of the problems in America. In more developed countries, like China and Russia, politics and technology have gone hand in hand for 25 years. You can’t find a Russian leader who is not fluent in cyber technology.”

McAfee, who said he spent years saying he wouldn’t run for president but caved two weeks ago, doesn’t plan to make campaign stops in Colorado or elsewhere.

“I’m running a purely electronic campaign. We’re developing software so I can address the American public in the comfort of their living rooms,” he said about software he’s developing to quickly collect and winnow questions from Americans. “I’m not going to go around kissing babies and shaking hands.”

Even as BlackCert’s co-founder and president John Casaretto spends his time running a mostly virtual operation that employs 12, he realizes it’s difficult to ignore the other John.

McAfee, who went into hiding after Belize authorities wanted to question him for the 2012 murder of a neighbor (he was never charged), announced last week that he is running for U.S. president under the newly created Cyber Party.

The Internet security magnate’s life after McAfee Associates has become modern legend. He abandoned Silicon Valley in the mid-1990s, moving to Woodland Park and opening a yoga retreat. By the late-2000s, he sold off all his properties, including the 280-acre Colorado compound, and moved to Belize and started a lab to develop new antibiotics made from herbs.

In 2012, a Wired magazine reporter wrote about McAfee’s escapades and paranoia, how he surrounded himself with guns and girls and played Russian roulette with a loaded gun in front of the writer.

McAfee is back in the U.S. now, calling Lexington, Tenn., home. His presidential campaign headquarters are in Opelika, Ala.

“That’s been a big part of why companies have come to us,” said Casaretto, who met McAfee while writing for Siliconangle.com and also lists “Senior Campaign Manager, McAfee for President” on his LinkedIn profile. “The name is synonymous with security and trust. There are a lot of people who are fans of him, his rebel attitude.”

BlackCert sells SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates, essentially the “S” in encrypted websites that start with “https.” SSL verifies that a person or company’s website is really from that person or company. Most, including BlackCert, offer the more secure TLS, or Transport Layer Security. SSL is being abandoned because of vulnerabilities.

BlackCert aims to raise awareness for better validation and improve the security of the web. This week, it dropped its price to $16 for its certificate, from $29. Its premium extended verification certificate checks physical locations and other identity records to validate the requestor.

The company’s own extended validation certificate, however, notes a RiNo address of another company. Casaretto said he temporarily used a former colleague’s address — which that company verified — because he works from home and didn’t want his home address public.

Many companies offer security certificates and more than one person in the security community called BlackCert’s offerings “nothing special.”

“It seems like they have a lot of offerings but a lot of other certificate authorities have similar offerings,” said William Budington, a software engineer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

EFF is working with Mozilla, Cisco, the makers of WordPress and others to offer a free TLS certificates at LetsEncrypt.org. It too wants better security online with easier SSL installation.

“It’s a laborious process (to install). It’s not very straightforward even for folks who are technically apt,” Budington said. “We want to make encryption is the default on the Web, not the exception.”

Reached in Australia Tuesday where he said he was speaking to legal professionals, McAfee said that while he is a partner in BlackCert, Casaretto runs the operation.

“At the present moment, I’m working 28 hours a day on the campaign. I had no idea it was this time consuming,” said McAfee in a familiar deep, throaty voice. “If I become president, I will have to abandon my security business.”

BlackCert is only one piece of McAfee’s security empire. He runs Future Tense Central, a security and privacy company that consolidates all sorts of security tools. Its portfolio includes D-Vasive, a mobile app that keeps other apps from spying on the user; Chadder, which encrypts text messages; and STTarx, which touts a “totally secure intranet” for companies.

Even if McAfee gives up his security business if elected, he’s not abandoning technology.

“Politics and technology I hope are going to be closer partners in the future,” he said. “That is one of the problems in America. In more developed countries, like China and Russia, politics and technology have gone hand in hand for 25 years. You can’t find a Russian leader who is not fluent in cyber technology.”

McAfee, who said he spent years saying he wouldn’t run for president but caved two weeks ago, doesn’t plan to make campaign stops in Colorado or elsewhere.

“I’m running a purely electronic campaign. We’re developing software so I can address the American public in the comfort of their living rooms,” he said about software he’s developing to quickly collect and winnow questions from Americans. “I’m not going to go around kissing babies and shaking hands.”

Tamara Chuang: 303-954-1209, tchuang@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Gadgetress