Suspected hackers breach Brazil's emergency alert system, send false 'misanthropy' warning

The hack

At around 1:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, June 20, the national civil defense notification system broadcast an "Extreme Alert" to mobile phones in multiple states. The message contained the single word "misanthropy," which means hatred of humanity. The alert was ordered remotely by someone outside the system.

“The broadcast message was an 'Extreme Alert' type and contained the word misanthropy, which means 'hatred of humanity'. It is probably a hacker attack.”

Response

The National Protection and Civil Defense Secretariat immediately took the notification platform offline to contain the intrusion. The agency stated it will hand the incident to the Federal Police for investigation. Authorities plan to restore the system as quickly as possible once all security conditions have been reestablished.

“The message was ordered remotely by a person outside the national civil defense system.”

System and context

The government-run alert system, Defesa Civil Alerta, is coordinated by the National Civil Defense and the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) and executed by mobile operators. It sends automatic warnings for natural hazards such as floods, landslides, and severe storms, with no prior registration required. In August 2025, São Paulo residents received an unauthorized extreme alert reading 'TEST warning message A+B', but the Civil Defense denied it originated from the official system.