Brazilian authorities are investigating an intrusion incident targeting the civil defense alert system, which led to millions of Brazilian citizens receiving a false government mobile alert. The message was disguised as an “Extreme Alert,” commonly used by the government to warn the public about extreme weather conditions, and is suspected to be the result of a hacker attack.
The Ministry of National Integration and Regional Development, along with the Federal Police, stated that the fake alert was sent out to mobile phones across Brazil and likely originated from a cyber attack. National Protection and Civil Defense Minister, Wolnei Wolff, mentioned during a press conference that they have traced 10 similar alerts in various states of Brazil, though the exact number of mobile phones affected nationwide has not been disclosed.
Minister Wolff expressed the difficulty in determining whether the crime involved one or multiple perpetrators and emphasized the severity of compromising the system meant to ensure public safety by issuing alerts.
Initially appearing in the southern state of Parana, the false alert quickly spread to major cities like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro within minutes of the first message. The National Civil Defense Department of Brazil issued a statement attributing the false alert to remote triggering by an individual not associated with the national civil defense system.
The statement claimed that the message contained the term “misanthropy,” indicating a hatred towards humanity, which aligns with characteristics typically associated with a cyber attack. The civil defense alert platform was taken offline as a result of the intrusion and has not yet announced when it will be restored.
In a separate statement, the Civil Defense Department of Sao Paulo clarified that the alert did not originate from any of their personnel, and further investigations have not revealed any records of extreme alerts related to the reported content.
They also highlighted that the Cell Broadcast tool used for transmitting severe alerts was temporarily disabled by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) and that they are working in conjunction with Anatel and other entities involved in the system’s operation to determine the source of the false information.
Residents of Sao Paulo reported receiving similar messages through channels other than the compromised Cell Broadcast platform, raising concerns about the dissemination of false information through various means.
The government of Parana emphasized that the alert was not triggered by the state’s civil defense department and reassured that there weren’t predictions of any serious disasters in Curitiba. They have reached out to the National Civil Defense Department and the National Telecommunications Agency for further clarification on the incident.
Simultaneously, the Civil Defense Department of Rio de Janeiro confirmed that they did not issue any official alerts and attributed the user’s receipt of information to instability in the IDAP/Cell Broadcast alert system, which is under the jurisdiction of the National Civil Defense Department connected to the federal government.
They stated that there are currently no natural disaster-related risks necessitating an alert to the citizens of Rio de Janeiro and assured continued monitoring of the situation. Residents of Rio de Janeiro also reported receiving text messages related to the false alert incident.