Brazil Probes 10 Fake Extreme Alerts Sent to Millions in Civil Defense Hack
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · Jun 20
Brazil Probes 10 Fake Extreme Alerts Sent to Millions in Civil Defense Hack
3 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · Jun 20
Summary
Brazil’s Integration and Regional Development Ministry and federal police are investigating an intrusion that pushed fake “Extreme Alert” messages to millions of mobile phones.
10 alerts were traced across multiple states, and one message contained the word “misanthropy,” a term unrelated to the system’s normal emergency warnings.
The alert channel is reserved for extreme-weather threats, making the false messages a breach of a high-priority public warning system.
Wolnei Wolff, the national civil defense secretary, said the nationwide number of affected phones has not been disclosed.