4chan Hack: Have Admins’ Identities Been Revealed?

The internet forum 4chan appears to have been hacked, according to Monday and Tuesday online reports. Some posts indicate that the identities of the website administrators and moderators have been revealed.

What is 4chan?

4chan is an online forum website known for its anonymous user base. It is notorious for harboring content or communities that are banned on other websites. This includes the group of hackers Anonymous, incels, white supremacists and followers of the online conspiracy group Qanon.

Several memes have originated from 4chan, such as the Pepe the Frog meme tied to hate speech. Online, the website is known as a platform to share images of violence and gore, as well as unregulated pornography.

The website has been up and in use since 2003. Although it garnered attention from U.S. officials and authorities in recent years, it has been kept online due to investment from a Japanese company, according to Wired.

“If the data is legitimate, information on members and posting could be useful for law enforcement investigations,” Ian Gray, the director of analysis and research at the security firm Flashpoint, told the news outlet. “4chan has been around since at least 2003, which is extremely notable for any online service. Aside from the offensive and often extremist content, a lot of internet culture has originated from 4chan. If this is a death knell for 4chan, other services will likely fill its place. However, the effect of 4chan on the internet cannot be overstated.”

How did 4chan get hacked?

A previously banned 4chan board appeared online with a message saying, “U GOT HACKED XD.” An account on the online forum Soyjak.party then posted alleged screenshots of 4chan’s backends. It also listed 4chan administrators’ and moderators’ usernames, along with their email addresses, according to Wired. Other Soyjak.party users then posted additional photographs and personal information of these individuals. 

A moderator for 4chan told TechCrunch they believe the hack is real. However, the information has not been verified beyond their claim.

“It seems true that 4chan hasn’t been properly maintained and patched for years, which might indicate that a hack would have definitely been a possibility,” Emiliano De Cristofaro, a computer science and engineering professor at UC Riverside, told Wired. “There might be some ‘high profile’ users exposed as moderators—traditionally, 4chan users hate them, so they might be targeted. It might be hard or at least painfully slow and costly for 4chan to recover from this, so we might really see the end of 4chan as we know it.”