Shaquille O’Neal appeared at a Times Square promotional event for security company NordVPN on Wednesday, announcing an ambassadorship aimed at promoting digital security after experiencing his own personal hacking incident.
Shaquille O'Neal Reveals He Fell Victim to Cyber Criminals
The four-time NBA champion and media personality told reporters at the Wednesday event that he recently fell victim to cyber criminals for the first time. Scammers targeted him by falsely claiming he was attempting to purchase a house and that they were managing the transaction.
“I was hacked for the first time, not a bad hack, and I didn’t know what to do,” O’Neal stated, according to reporting by wired.com. “So I had to look into it. 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 noted that despite his high profile, he attempts to maintain a normal life and does not store particularly sensitive data on his personal devices. When questioned about whether his public status warrants extra precautions for himself and his family, he admitted he thinks about it constantly without letting it overwhelm him. “You have to be able to have great reactionary skills if something happens,” he said.
Why Shaq is Partnering With NordVPN
As a prolific tech investor who entered the artificial intelligence space early, O’Neal is using his brand ambassadorship to educate the public on digital defense. He emphasized that his goal is helping everyday people protect themselves.
“I have a video of me beating up Charles Barkley, and I wouldn’t want the world to see that. That was a joke, but everybody needs to have control of their own information,” O’Neal explained.
NordVPN offers more than its virtual private network product. The company’s consumer-facing ecosystem also spans antivirus software, threat detection tools, and scam-defense solutions designed for everyday accessibility.
The Human Element of Cybersecurity
Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer at NordVPN, expressed surprise at recent polling data collected by the firm. The survey indicated that 73 percent of Americans hold an overconfidence in traditional antivirus software, believing it provides blanket protection against threats ranging from online tracking to identity theft.
Briedis highlighted the persistent vulnerability inherent in consumer tech adoption. “The weakest link is between the computer and the chair, and I’ve been thinking so much about how to solve that problem,” Briedis told wired.com. “So the thing we are doing right now is focusing on education. It’s a really interesting problem, how to do it in the best way. It’s still haunting me in my dreams.”
