Close Menu
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

What's On

Panasonic’s flagship 65-inch OLED has a $700 discount today

10 May 2025

Sonos CEO: ‘We All Feel Really Terrible’ About the Bungled App Update

9 May 2025

Tom Cruise is human. Here’s the one stunt he couldn’t do in Mission: Impossible

9 May 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Just In
  • Panasonic’s flagship 65-inch OLED has a $700 discount today
  • Sonos CEO: ‘We All Feel Really Terrible’ About the Bungled App Update
  • Tom Cruise is human. Here’s the one stunt he couldn’t do in Mission: Impossible
  • Review: Thule Chariot Cross 2 Bike Trailer and Stroller
  • The Backbone Pro Is A Decent Upgrade To Arguably The Best Mobile Controller
  • LG’s best OLED TV of 2024 is on sale for $1,000 off today
  • Here’s How to Claim Up to $100 in Apple’s Siri Settlement
  • Ex-Bungie Developers Create TeamLFG, A New PlayStation Studio
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest Vimeo
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release
Subscribe
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
Home » Suspected 4chan Hack Could Expose Longtime, Anonymous Admins
News

Suspected 4chan Hack Could Expose Longtime, Anonymous Admins

News RoomBy News Room15 April 20253 Mins Read
Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Reddit Telegram Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

The anonymous image board 4chan has survived years of controversy. It weathered user and advertiser boycotts as well as damning accusations that it incubated hate speech that may have fueled mass shootings. Users have convened on 4chan to plan hacks like DDoS attacks, and conspiracy theories that festered on 4chan even reportedly inspired the January 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol. On Monday night and Tuesday, though, the platform faced its latest test after a series of outages led to speculation that the site had been hacked.

The core feature 4chan provides is public anonymity to post text and images, but the platform itself does collect information about users, such as their IP addresses. As a result, a breach of the website could represent a significant exposure of data that was intended to be private.

“4chan is an anonymous message board that enables often offensive and hateful content. The content leaked, if genuine, would remove some of the anonymity from 4chan administrators, moderators, and janitors,” says Ian Gray, director of analysis and research at the security firm Flashpoint. The image board’s billing as an “anonymous” platform may have given users a “false sense of security,” Gray says. “Some users may have registered their email addresses years ago when they were less aware or concerned about their operational security.”

Reports about the apparent hack began circulating after a previously banned board on 4chan briefly appeared online and the site was defaced with a message saying, “U GOT HACKED XD.” Subsequently, an online account on a rival forum known as Soyjak.party posted screenshots allegedly showing 4chan’s backend systems, plus a list of alleged 4chan administrator and moderator usernames, with associated email addresses. Following this post of 4chan administrator email addresses, Soyjak.party users started posting alleged doxes, including photos and personal information, of the accounts included in the leak.

WIRED has not been able to confirm whether the data is legitimate. A press email address associated with 4chan as well as two alleged administrator emails from the leaked data did not immediately respond to WIRED’s requests for comment on the hack and its validity. One of the site’s moderators said they believed the hack and leaks were real, according to a report by TechCrunch.

Rumors also started circulating on Tuesday that the breach is the result of 4chan running legacy, unpatched software that exposed the platform to attack. After a breach a decade ago, 4chan founder Christopher Poole, known online as “moot,” wrote in a blog post, “[We] have spent—and will continue to spend—dozens of hours poring over our software and systems to help mitigate and prevent future intrusions. We’re sorry it happened, and will do our best to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Emiliano De Cristofaro, a computer science and engineering professor at UC Riverside, who has researched the impact of 4chan on the web, says the ramifications could be large if the hack is confirmed.

“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,” De Cristofaro says. “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.”

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleOnePlus Nord CE 5 Specifications Leaked; Said to Offer MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Chipset
Next Article Microsoft confirms Classic Outlook typing issue causing CPU spikes

Related Articles

News

Panasonic’s flagship 65-inch OLED has a $700 discount today

10 May 2025
News

Sonos CEO: ‘We All Feel Really Terrible’ About the Bungled App Update

9 May 2025
News

Tom Cruise is human. Here’s the one stunt he couldn’t do in Mission: Impossible

9 May 2025
News

Review: Thule Chariot Cross 2 Bike Trailer and Stroller

9 May 2025
News

LG’s best OLED TV of 2024 is on sale for $1,000 off today

9 May 2025
News

Here’s How to Claim Up to $100 in Apple’s Siri Settlement

9 May 2025
Demo
Top Articles

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202493 Views

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 202482 Views

5 laptops to buy instead of the M4 MacBook Pro

17 November 202457 Views

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Latest News
News

LG’s best OLED TV of 2024 is on sale for $1,000 off today

News Room9 May 2025
News

Here’s How to Claim Up to $100 in Apple’s Siri Settlement

News Room9 May 2025
Gaming

Ex-Bungie Developers Create TeamLFG, A New PlayStation Studio

News Room9 May 2025
Most Popular

The Spectacular Burnout of a Solar Panel Salesman

13 January 2025118 Views

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202493 Views

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 202482 Views
Our Picks

Review: Thule Chariot Cross 2 Bike Trailer and Stroller

9 May 2025

The Backbone Pro Is A Decent Upgrade To Arguably The Best Mobile Controller

9 May 2025

LG’s best OLED TV of 2024 is on sale for $1,000 off today

9 May 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
© 2025 Best in Technology. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.