Residents of several cities in Brazil receive fake Civil Defense alert An extreme sound alert from the Civil Defense was sent to cell phones of residents in several cities in Brazil between Friday night (19) and the early hours of this Saturday (20). The messages featured the word "misanthropy", or variations, and were not linked to any real risk situation.
In some locations, the alert mentioned an "alien attack". The National Civil Defense reported that the platform used to send the alerts was taken offline at 1:30 AM this Saturday (20), after suffering an invasion. According to the agency, the dispatch was made remotely by someone without authorization and may have been the result of a hacker attack (read the full note below). "The National Secretariat for Protection and Civil Defense of the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development will contact the Federal Police and take steps to turn the system back on as quickly as possible, once all security conditions are re-established," it said in a note. The episode was reported by residents of cities such as: Curitiba São Paulo Rio de Janeiro Belo Horizonte Brasília Salvador and Campo Grande. The alert generated surprise and confusion on social media, since the term has no relation to weather phenomena or emergency situations.
"Misanthropy" means aversion or rejection of humanity, and can also refer to social isolation, melancholy, or profound sadness. ➡️ The Civil Defense system emits sounds and messages to residents of regions at risk of disasters, such as heavy rains. The alerts appear in pop-up format on the cell phone, overriding the content displayed on the screen. In addition to the sound alert, residents of Rio de Janeiro also reported receiving text messages with unusual content.
In one of the records sent to g1, the message attributed to the Civil Defense said: “misanthrope ADRESS RJ so dumb fr”. The text, with spelling errors and no context, reinforced the suspicion of a failure or misuse of the system. A screenshot shows a text message attributed to the Civil Defense received by a resident of Rio de Janeiro in the early hours of this Saturday (20). Reproduction In Belo Horizonte, the message said "Protect yourself: ALIEN ATTACK, HUMANS WE'RE HERE misanthrope". Message received by residents of Belo Horizonte (MG) in the early hours of this Saturday Reproduction READ ALSO: Salvador residents get scared upon receiving sound alert with the word 'misanthropy' on cell phones during the early hours In a note, the Civil Defense of Paraná stated that it did not issue the message and said there is no risk situation whatsoever in Curitiba.
The government of Paraná reinforced that "the alert triggered a few minutes ago did not come from the Civil Defense of Paraná". On Saturday morning, however, the state received an orange alert from the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) for the danger of thunderstorms, winds up to 100 km/h, and hail. Paraná receives a true thunderstorm alert with winds up to 100 km/h in 69 cities; see where and the weather forecast The Civil Defense of São Paulo also said it did not send any alerts. According to the agency, the CellBroadcast tool, which is used to send the messages, is managed by Anatel. The Civil Defense of Rio de Janeiro also denied having dispatched the message and stated that it continues to monitor the situation.
"There is currently no risk situation related to natural disasters that justifies issuing an alert for the population of Rio de Janeiro," it said in a note. In a note, the Civil Defense of Salvador (Codesal) informed that it was not responsible for sending the message and clarified that there is no imminent risk situation or severe weather event forecast for the Bahian capital that would justify issuing an extreme alert. To g1, the State Coordination of Protection and Civil Defense of Mato Grosso do Sul (Cepedec-MS) reported that the case is being investigated by the agency. What does 'misanthropy' mean? The word "misanthropy" caught users' attention. According to the Michaelis dictionary, the term means aversion or rejection of humanity, and can also refer to social isolation, melancholy, or profound sadness. On social media, the message quickly became a meme.
Some netizens joked about the situation and associated the alert with fictional scenarios, such as alien invasions and mysterious messages. What the National Civil Defense says "The dispatch platform of Defesa Civil Alerta was taken offline at 1:30 AM this Saturday (June 20), after suffering an invasion and triggering an alert to various regions of the country, ordered remotely by someone outside the National System for Protection and Civil Defense. The triggered message was of the Extreme Alert type and contained the word “misanthropy” — which means hatred of humanity. It is likely a hacker attack. The National Secretariat for Protection and Civil Defense of the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development will contact the Federal Police and take steps to turn the system back on as quickly as possible, once all security conditions are re-established." A resident of Rio de Janeiro shows an extreme alert received on his cell phone with the word “misanthropy”. Reproduction.
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