Residents of several major Brazilian cities received an "extreme alert" notification from Civil Defense on Friday night (19) and early Saturday morning (20) with an unusual message: instead of warning about a real natural disaster threat, the message contained the word "misanthropy" or variations such as "misanthropi4".
The term refers to aversion, distrust, or contempt toward the human species. It is the opposite of philanthropy.The alerts reached cell phones in six state capitals (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, and Rio Branco), as well as residents of several municipalities in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso do Sul, and the Federal District.
All received similar messages containing the word misanthropy. In Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, however, the alerts also included references to alien attacks.
National Civil Defense Secretary Wolnei Wolff said the case appears to involve a hacker attack.
On Sunday, however, a federal government report sent to investigators indicated that the alerts were sent using the login credentials of two Civil Defense agents from Pará.
