Or Just Another Keyboard Cowboy?
McToon, real name Ryan Scott Krueger, likes to present himself as a data-savvy, science-wielding Flat Earth slayer. But peel back the layers of his digital persona, and things start to smell like a microwaved burrito of half-truths and LinkedIn cosplay.
Let’s start with the basics: He works as a Software Engineer for a Minnetonka-based company called US Internet, where he claims to be the lead developer of their email security platform, Securence.
His profile boasts expertise in Java, SMTP, Cryptography, Security, Typography (yes, fonts), and other buzzwords that sound impressive to the uninitiated.
But here’s the kicker: Despite all that techno-bravado, US Internet was responsible for one of the most embarrassing data breaches in recent memory – exposing thousands of customer and internal emails to the open web due to a basic configuration error.
So much for “security expert.”
And then there’s the matter of his alter ego: On LinkedIn, he’s also connected to a profile under the name Eric Benson, which conveniently claims military credentials – a classic case of “passing off” to boost credibility.
Because nothing says “trust me” like a fake vet with a keyboard and a superiority complex.
As for his academic credentials? He scraped his way through a Computer Science and Electrical Engineering qualification at Minnesota State University, Mankato from 1990 to 1995, but let’s be frank: it’s hardly MIT, is it?
It might be a solid tech background to some, sure… but how exactly does that qualify him to debunk cosmology, physics, and centuries of geodesy?
Spoiler: It doesn’t.
But sprinkle in a few science-y words, slap on a lab coat, and suddenly you’re the Neil deGrasse Tyson of YouTube debates.
So the next time McToon tells you he’s a “scientist,” just remember: He’s the kind of “scientist” whose company accidentally published inboxes to the internet, and whose credentials are stitched together with Java code, bravado, and a suspiciously patriotic alter ego.