Shaq O'Neal teams with NordVPN to raise cybersecurity awareness

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 9 Oct, 12:37 · Archive

NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal has revealed he was hacked and is now working with NordVPN to promote digital security awareness.

Shaquille O'Neal revealed that he was hacked after scammers targeted him claiming to work on a house transaction. The NBA Hall of Famer said the incident prompted him to learn more about cybersecurity and digital defence. 'I was hacked for the first time, not a bad hack, and I didn't know what to do,' he told reporters. 'Once that happened, I really had to start paying more attention, because I would think nothing like that could ever happen to me, but it could happen to anybody.'

O'Neal has been NordVPN's official ambassador since September. At an event in Times Square on Thursday, he worked alongside professional basketball players to raise awareness of digital threats. The company used basketball analogies to demonstrate how its Next Generation Antivirus intercepts and blocks malware and phishing attempts. NordVPN says its antivirus scans 12 million unique URLs daily and blocked an average of 130,000 malicious pages, with nearly 5 million malware attempts blocked in the US in the first months of 2026.

O'Neal noted that he does not have particularly sensitive data on his devices and tries to live a normal life, but acknowledged concerns about his high profile. 'Yes, I think about it all the time, but I don't let it consume me, because if you let it consume you you can go crazy,' he said. The collaboration aims to inform the public that everyone needs to have control of their own information and protect themselves against digital threats.

How it is being reported

• NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal teams up with NordVPN, taking over NYC to raise awareness of digital threatsThe NBA legend, alongside other pro-basketball players, came out to demonstrate the blocking power of Next Gen Antivirus in a new wayTechRadar · 9 Oct, 12:27
• How a (Weirdly Chill) Celebrity Thinks About Personal CybersecurityAt a recent event for security firm NordVPN, NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal revealed that he got hacked—and warned the public about the need to “have control of their own information.”Wired · 7 Oct, 22:31

In this story: Shaquille O'Neal · NordVPN · Times Square · Charles Barkley · NBA

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