Someone hacked the famous website 4chan on Tuesday.

When I wrote this, the 4chan website wasn't working. People on social media said it stopped working sometimes for hours.

People on another website were happy about the hack. Someone said the hacker was in 4chan's computers for more than a year.

Some pictures online seemed to show secret parts of the 4chan website. These parts are usually only for the people who run the site. The pictures showed how they stop users from using the site. There was also a list of people who help manage the site. Some of these helpers can remove messages, but they don't have as much power as the main managers. For example, the main managers can see users' computer details.

Because 4chan is known for violent political groups, this computer attack could show who runs these websites. These websites are now important for extreme right-wing groups.

TechCrunch talked to some people whose emails were shared. One person said the information and pictures that were shared are true.

The janitor said, "I don't have a reason to think differently."

I'm a little surprised. The people who check 4chan have had secrets shared before, but this is a much bigger problem," the worker told TechCrunch. "I don't like the situation. I think most other people don't either. But many of us have been doing this job for a long time. Finding and sharing people's private information is a common thing on 4chan, and we always knew we might be shown to everyone.

The janitor said, "I'm very worried about the information that came out. It's easy to see why. I think it's worse that a hacker took control of 4chan than just having pictures, especially if the website wants to keep working."

The cleaner also said it looks like the hacker got private information from people who pay for 4chan Pass. These users pay to post more and use a special part of the website.

4chan did not answer an email that asked for comments.

4chan is a website where people can share messages and pictures without saying who they are. It is sometimes seen as a bad part of the internet. Often, people on 4chan post things to surprise others. Sometimes, things from 4chan become popular online, like simple memes, or they can become bad ideas that can cause violence.

Memes like Pepe the Frog started on the website 4chan and are now very popular everywhere online. But 4chan is most famous for its political parts. In these parts, young people can start to believe in bad ideas like white supremacy. QAnon, a group who support President Trump, also started on 4chan.

In 2019, a man killed 51 people in two mosques in New Zealand. He often used a website called 4chan since he was young. In 2022, an 18-year-old man killed 10 Black people in a shop in New York. This young man wrote a long text that used ideas from the man who killed people in New Zealand.