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Shaquille O'Neal says he was hacked for the first time, and at a Times Square promotional event he promoted NordVPN as a tool for ordinary people to take greater control of their data; as first reported by WIRED, O'Neal said the incident led him to learn more about cybersecurity. The four-time NBA champion and tech investor has joined NordVPN's outreach to emphasise personal privacy and basic digital hygiene. The company points to a recent poll it commissioned in which 73 percent of Americans expressed excessive confidence in conventional antivirus tools. NordVPN describes what a VPN does, what it is promoting, and the limits of education alone.
I was hacked for the first time, not a bad hack, and I didn't know what to do,
Shaquille O'Neal
Key takeaways
- Celebrity and privacy: Shaquille O'Neal says he was hacked for the first time and is now publicly promoting NordVPN to raise awareness of digital security.
- Poll finding: A poll commissioned by NordVPN found that 73 percent of Americans report excessive confidence in traditional antivirus software.
- Company voice: Marijus Briedis, NordVPN's chief technology officer, said that education is central because 'the weakest link is between the computer and the chair.'
- Public profile: O'Neal is a four-time NBA champion and a tech investor noted in a 2023 Forbes profile for early AI investments.
Table of contents
- Key takeaways
- Why Shaquille O'Neal's hack matters for everyday users
- What NordVPN is promoting — and what its products actually cover
- Where consumers are most likely to be exposed
- What a VPN will and will not do for you
- How the campaign could play out
- What to be careful about
- Frequently asked questions
Why Shaquille O'Neal's hack matters for everyday users
Shaquille O'Neal framed his experience as a learning moment: "I was hacked for the first time, not a bad hack, and I didn't know what to do," he said. His visibility matters because high-profile incidents turn abstract warnings about phishing and social engineering into concrete examples the public recognises. O'Neal has said the encounter began when scammers falsely asserted they were overseeing a home purchase involving him, which prompted him to study digital defence.
The practical effect of a celebrity disclosure like O'Neal's is twofold. First, it lowers the barrier for other people to accept that an intrusion can happen to them; second, it gives security vendors a public platform to promote concrete tools and behaviours. O'Neal emphasised personal reaction skills and not letting worry consume him, and he tied that to wider consumer education efforts from vendors such as NordVPN.
What NordVPN is promoting — and what its products actually cover
NordVPN is best known for a virtual private network, or VPN, a service that creates an encrypted tunnel between a device and a VPN server to hide IP addresses and encrypt traffic on untrusted networks. The company also bundles antivirus, threat detection, and scam-defence tools for consumers; NordVPN's marketing frames those products as accessible layers of protection.
Marijus Briedis, NordVPN's chief technology officer, said he was struck by a company poll showing broad overconfidence in antivirus: "The weakest link is between the computer and the chair, and I've been thinking so much about how to solve that problem." The firm uses that finding to justify education campaigns and product combinations aimed at reducing successful scams and opportunistic intrusions.
Where consumers are most likely to be exposed
NordVPN's poll result — that 73 percent of Americans appear overconfident in traditional antivirus — highlights a specific failure mode: users assume a single product will stop scams and tracking. Antivirus can detect known malware signatures and some malicious behaviour, but it does not by itself block targeted social-engineering attacks, impersonation scams, or credential theft that rely on user actions.
Security practitioners describe the user as the unpredictable element; in this story Marijus Briedis places the responsibility on education as much as on software. That view underpins NordVPN's decision to pair VPN access with scam-defence messaging and other consumer-facing features, rather than presenting a VPN as a standalone cure-all.
What a VPN will and will not do for you
A VPN primarily protects data in transit and obscures a device's IP address; it helps on insecure public Wi‑Fi and can reduce some kinds of tracking by replacing a user's IP with the VPN server's. It does not secure passwords stored in cloud accounts, stop targeted phishing that convinces users to hand over credentials, or remove malware already installed on a device.
For that reason, NordVPN's consumer bundle and O'Neal's outreach both focus on layered defence: use a VPN for network privacy, keep endpoint software updated, and treat unsolicited transactions and messages skeptically. That layered message mirrors Briedis's emphasis on human behaviour as a vector: tools help, but education and processes are still required.
| Item | What it protects | What it does not protect | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| VPN (NordVPN) | Network traffic, IP address | Phishing, credential theft, preexisting malware | NordVPN product descriptions |
| Antivirus | Known malware signatures, some suspicious actions | Social-engineering scams, account takeovers | NordVPN poll context |
| Scam-defence features | Alerts and blocking for known scam patterns | Highly targeted impersonation and novel fraud tactics | NordVPN marketing |
How the campaign could play out
The case for
- Increased public discussion driven by Shaquille O'Neal's disclosure could raise basic security behaviour among users who previously dismissed the risk.
- NordVPN's bundled consumer products and education push could reduce opportunistic scams if uptake of multi-layer protections increases.
The case against
- Publicity may create a false sense that buying a single product is sufficient, reinforcing the 73 percent overconfidence the company's poll identified.
- Campaign-style messaging risks emphasizing brand reach over measurable reductions in account takeovers unless accompanied by transparent metrics and independent evaluation.
What to be careful about
- Overreliance on a VPN or antivirus alone, matching the 73 percent overconfidence identified by NordVPN.
- Celebrity endorsement could conflate product availability with absolute protection, leading some users to ignore multi-factor authentication and other controls.
- Education campaigns without measurable outcomes may increase awareness but fail to change the behaviours that enable scams and impersonation.
The bottom line
Shaquille O'Neal's public disclosure and his collaboration with NordVPN illustrate that high-profile incidents can shift public perception and create an opportunity for vendors to educate users. NordVPN highlights two related points that are easy to conflate — that a VPN improves network privacy, and that endpoint protections combined with user behaviour are critical to preventing scams. NordVPN's poll result of 73 percent underscores the danger of relying on a single product; closing that gap requires measurable changes in behaviour, not only brand messaging.
What to watch
- Watch for NordVPN or Nord Security to publish independent metrics on whether its combined VPN and scam-defence bundle reduces successful impersonation scams; no date has been set.
- Watch for any follow-up statements from Shaquille O'Neal or NordVPN with technical details of the incident; no date has been set.
Frequently asked questions
Did Shaq actually get hacked?
Shaquille O'Neal said he was "hacked for the first time," and he described scammers who claimed they were overseeing a home purchase for him; those remarks formed the basis for his public call to learn more about cybersecurity.
Will using a VPN stop hacks?
A VPN protects network traffic and obscures your IP address, which helps on untrusted Wi‑Fi, but it does not stop phishing or credential theft or remove malware already on a device; NordVPN pairs a VPN with antivirus and scam‑defence features to address multiple vectors.
What did NordVPN’s poll find?
NordVPN pointed to polling in which 73 percent of Americans reported too much faith in conventional antivirus; Marijus Briedis, the company's chief technology officer, used the result to argue for stronger consumer education.
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