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Shaquille O’Neal appeared at a NordVPN digital-security awareness activation in New York’s Times Square, according to an October 8, 2026 report. The event followed NordVPN’s September announcement of a global partnership with O’Neal, intended to make everyday online threats easier to understand and promote the company’s VPN and security features.
What happened in New York City
NordVPN announced O’Neal as a global ambassador in September 2026 under the slogan “Go big on your online protection.” The company said the partnership would help explain digital threats and spotlight its next-generation antivirus. An October 8 report by Lithuanian outlet Unicorns.lt says O’Neal appeared at an awareness activation in Times Square. That account is the source for the event detail; the available material does not establish an independently measured effect on public awareness or online behavior.
In the announcement, O’Neal said, “I only work with people and brands I believe in, and NordVPN is serious about helping people stay protected online.” NordVPN CMO Toma Sabaliauskienė said, “NordVPN is no longer just a VPN, and this partnership makes that clear.” Both quotes were published in the company announcement carried by G3 Newswire.
What the campaign was promoting
The campaign’s subject is a digital subscription, not a physical product. NordVPN’s campaign page describes a VPN service with security features that include scam alerts, malware scanning, ad and tracker blocking, phishing and email protection, and a Windows vulnerability scanner. The page also advertises a 30-day money-back guarantee and code SHAQ for four extra months with the Complete plan; promotions can change, so check the terms on the campaign page before relying on them.
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A VPN can encrypt a device’s connection to a VPN server and help protect traffic on networks, but it is not a guarantee against every online threat. It does not make a fake website trustworthy or prevent every scam, malware infection, or account takeover. Features such as malware scanning and phishing alerts address different risks and should be understood as parts of a broader security toolkit.
Threat figures cited in the announcement
NordVPN used its own reported activity figures to explain why it considers digital security relevant. These are company-reported statistics, not independent measurements:
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- NordVPN said it scanned 12 million unique URLs per day and blocked an average of 130,000 malicious pages per day.
- The company reported blocking almost 5 million malware attempts in the United States during the first half of 2026.
- It said it had blocked nearly 29,000 scam calls since launch and had issued more than 525,000 spam-call warnings.
- NordVPN reported blocking more than 4.4 million phishing connections, with 99% said to impersonate 300 brands.
The announcement also characterized a recent West Coast Labs assessment as finding a 99% detection rate. It did not link to the assessment or state its date, so the figure should be treated as NordVPN’s description rather than a fully specified independent test result.
What the survey reported—and what it does not prove
Unicorns.lt reported survey results attributed to NordVPN from 2,010 Americans: 74% reportedly failed to identify a fake URL, 73% said they had recently encountered online fraud, and 13% said they had lost or nearly lost money. The report does not provide the questionnaire, methodology, or dataset, so these figures should remain attributed to the outlet’s account of NordVPN’s survey. They describe reported responses, not a measured outcome of the Times Square event.
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Sources
- G3 Newswire’s September 2026 republication of NordVPN’s partnership announcement, including the company’s claims and quotations.
- Unicorns.lt’s October 8, 2026 report, the source for the Times Square activation and survey reporting.
- NordVPN’s Shaquille O’Neal campaign page, for the feature and offer descriptions.
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