--- title: "Hackers hijacked Brazil’s emergency alert system and sent ‘misanthropy’ to millions of phones" url: https://daily.dev/posts/hackers-hijacked-brazil-s-emergency-alert-system-and-sent-misanthropy-to-millions-of-phones-hg5shqyny source_url: https://thenextweb.com/news/brazil-civil-defense-alert-hack-misanthropy-cell-broadcast type: article source: "The Next Web" published: 2026-06-21T10:00:51.453Z updated: 2026-06-21T10:01:11.055Z tags: ["security"] reading_time: 4 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Hackers hijacked Brazil’s emergency alert system and sent ‘misanthropy’ to millions of phones **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Hackers breached Brazil's national civil defense alert system overnight, sending fake 'Extreme Alert' notifications containing the word 'misantropi4' (misanthropy in Portuguese with leetspeak substitution) to an estimated 30 million phones across at least seven states. The platform was shut down at 1:30 am after attackers regained access following an initial blocking attempt. The Federal Police is investigating. Brazil's Cell Broadcast system, expanded nationally only in October 2025, lacks cryptographic authentication — a known vulnerability in emergency alert systems globally that allows fake alerts to be transmitted using inexpensive software-defined radios. The deeper concern is erosion of public trust: if citizens associate emergency sounds with pranks, they may ignore genuine disaster warnings in the future. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [US emergency alert systems down after cyberattack](https://daily.dev/posts/us-emergency-alert-systems-down-after-cyberattack-uqygkn8vm) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [And then the men with guns tell you to do it anyway](https://daily.dev/posts/and-then-the-men-with-guns-tell-you-to-do-it-anyway-wj1vmwawm) · Terence Eden · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Fake Bahrain Alert App Deploys Android Surveillance Malware](https://daily.dev/posts/fake-bahrain-alert-app-deploys-android-surveillance-malware-hriig9g2h) · Dark Reading · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Spyware disguised as emergency-alert app sent to Israelis](https://daily.dev/posts/spyware-disguised-as-emergency-alert-app-sent-to-israelis-jslad84mu) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [FCC: US radio gear hijacked for bogus alerts and bad words](https://daily.dev/posts/fcc-us-radio-gear-hijacked-for-bogus-alerts-and-bad-words-oho67fgk1) · The Register · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#security](https://daily.dev/tags/security) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/hackers-hijacked-brazil-s-emergency-alert-system-and-sent-misanthropy-to-millions-of-phones-hg5shqyny)