Brazil's government suspects a hacking attack triggered an unauthorised alert sent to mobile phones across parts of the country.
In a statement, the National Protection and Civil Defense Secretariat said the country's citizens' notification system was taken offline about 1.30am after a message containing the word "misanthropy" - meaning hatred of humanity - was sent to users in several states.
The unauthorised alert, which was ordered remotely, will be handed to the Federal Police for investigation, and the notification system will be restored as soon as possible, according to the statement.
