Brazilian Hackers Flood Phones With Fake Emergency Alerts, Raising Israeli Concerns

Hackers breached Brazil’s emergency alert system and on Saturday sent fake emergency warnings to millions of smartphones, the Brazilian government said. The incident is being viewed as relevant to Israel because emergency alerts are also used there during wartime.

According to reports, the messages were sent under the “severe alert” category, which is normally reserved for warnings about extreme weather events. The alert text appeared in Portuguese as “Defesa Civil:misantropi4,” with the number 4 used in place of the letter A. The first wave hit devices in Paraná in southern Brazil, followed minutes later by phones in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

The alert system was shut down shortly afterward, and it was not immediately clear when it would be restored. Brazil’s civil defense minister, Wolney Wolff, said 10 identical alerts had been identified as being sent to different states. “It’s hard to say whether one person or more took part in this criminal act. It is very bad for the system, given that we are dealing with people’s safety when we issue alerts,” he told Bloomberg.

Israel’s Home Front Command uses a similar system, especially during wars with Iran, to send geographically targeted warnings of expected missile launches and impacts. Those alerts usually arrive seconds before push notifications from the Home Front Command app and minutes before sirens sound. At this stage, it is not known how the Brazilian system was breached or whether the same weakness could threaten the Israeli system.