Hackers sent out an “extreme” alert to millions of people in Brazil using the government’s own system.
Hackers sent out an “extreme” alert to millions of people in Brazil using the government’s own system.
Over the weekend, millions of Brazilians were woken up in the early hours of Saturday (20.06.26), shortly after midnight, with a cryptic message from the alert system.
With an alert level of “extreme”, the message simply read: “Misantropi4.”
It came with a loud alarm sound which is typically only heard for severe thunderstorms.
In Portuguese, misanthropia – like the English word misanthropy” – means a hatred or distrust of humanity.
The message, which is believed to come from hackers, was sent to people in places like San Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and the state of Parana.
The emergency message system was then taken offline after the probable attack, and there was no kind of event which would have resulted in the alert being activated when it was.
This all points towards it being the work of bad actors, rather than an error by the government.
Although the implications of this breach could be serious, most Brazilians on social media appeared to be more confused.
One Reddit user, Last-Educator3947, wrote: “I live in the town where the alert was first sent. It happened five minutes after the Brazil x Haiti World Cup game.
“My anxious brain associated misanthropy with a violent attack on the people celebrating in the streets after the game.
“I thought it was an incel Discord hacker sending a message to start a ‘The Purge’-style attack. I’m laughing now but I barely slept last night.”
And another, Magnon, added: “Sounds like an anime villain just spawned.”
Hackers ‘hijack’ Brazil government’s alert system with ‘extreme’ message
