Brazilian authorities have opened an investigation after hackers breached the country’s emergency alert system to send “extreme” emergency broadcasts.
The system, which warns residents about severe weather events, was taken offline to prevent further compromise.
Brazilian emergency alert system sends
Authorities said the attackers broadcast the message “Alerta extremo – Defesa Civil:misantropi4.” Defesa Civil Nacional is Brazil’s federal agency for handling emergencies and disasters.
“Alerta extremo” refers to the highest-level emergency alert, while “misantropi4” is the stylized version of the Portuguese word “misantropia” or “misanthropy” in English, which means a deep hatred or distrust of humanity.
Millions of mobile phones across various regions, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, and the Federal District, received the cryptic message.
However, Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) advised people to disregard the emergency alert as it was triggered by authorized entities.
“Anatel clarifies that the alert messages received by mobile phone users during the early hours of this Saturday were not issued by the competent authorities responsible for the population alert system,” the Agency stated.
Anatel also clarified that the broadcast messages only reached areas defined by the Civil Defense parameters. The agency also assured the recipients that there was no reason for alarm and that the integrity of the system was not compromised.
“There is, at this moment, no reason for concern on the part of the population as a result of the messages received,” the agency said.
It further revealed that a new system was under development with enhanced security controls to prevent unauthorized use in the future. The Civil Defense agency also took the system offline on Saturday, June 20, at around 01:30 to investigate the incident and prevent further compromise. However, authorities were working to restore the emergency alert system.
So far, Brazilian authorities have not identified the entity responsible for triggering emergency alerts or how they gained access. However, they believe the attack originated from external actors rather than government officials and was launched through online means.
Cybersecurity experts believe the hacker gained access using an employee’s computer that was running an end-of-life Windows 7 version, lacked antivirus protection and Single Sign-On, and was used to download cracked software. They also believe emergency alerts reached about 30 million people.
“This is really bad. According to our research, at least one of Brazil’s government IT workers was infected with an infostealer,” stated International Cyber Digest.
Meanwhile, authorities are analyzing the emergency alerts to determine how the attack was launched and the entity behind it.
Emergency alert systems previously hacked
Numerous emergency alert systems have been hacked or malfunctioned across the world, resulting in accidental or hoax alerts. However, the recent error in Brazil’s alert system appears unlikely to have been accidental, with the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development indicating that the incident was likely triggered by an external attacker.
“The tragedy of attacks like this is that they don’t just hurt organizations, they hurt people,” said John Strand, Owner, Black Hills Information Security. “Critical systems can be unavailable precisely when someone needs them most.”
“When that happens, the consequences extend far beyond lost revenue or damaged reputations and can directly affect public safety.”
In 2023, a testing error resulted in the Washington State nuclear alert sending an emergency alert about a nuclear attack. In 2022, Los Angeles County’s emergency alert system erroneously sent an evacuation order beyond the areas impacted by the wildfires. In the same year, Russian online TVs displayed emergency alerts.
In 2018, Hawaii residents also received a false missile alert while hackers took over 156 sirens in Dallas, warning residents about extreme weather in 2017, triggering 4,400 emergency calls. U.S. TV stations also displayed zombie attack messages in 2013, resulting in widespread public panic.
