McAfee pooh-poohed claims that the alleged incident undermined his security credentials saying he had no control over Twitter's security.

But he did admit that his mobile phone might have been compromised.

The social network offers two-factor authentication - in which a person must enter a code sent to a mobile phone in addition to a password to access an account - to avoid such incidents. McAfee told the Beeb that he had activated the option, but added that he believed the hacker had intercepted the authentication code.

"The first indication that I had been hacked was turning on my phone and seeing the attached image... I knew at that point that my phone had been compromised. I was on a boat at the time and could not go to my carrier (AT&T) to have the issue corrected. All that the hacker did was compromise my Twitter account. It could have been worse."

McAfee added that he had since removed two-factor authentication from all of his accounts as a precaution.

Ironically the former presidential candidate, person of interest in a murder case, is currently working on plans to sell the world's most "hack-proof" smartphone.