Messages on another website, which TechCrunch saw, showed people were happy about the attack. One person even said the hacker had been inside 4chan's system for more than a year.

Pictures appeared online that seemed to show the hidden parts of the website 4chan. These pictures reportedly showed the website's code and tools used to ban users, which only the site's leaders could usually see. The leaked information also included a list of people who were supposedly 4chan's leaders and "janitors." Janitors are users who can remove messages, but they don't have as much power as leaders, who can even see users' internet addresses.

Because 4chan has known violent political connections, this computer attack might reveal the people who manage these online groups, which have become very important for alt-right movements.

TechCrunch contacted some of the people whose email addresses were shared online and talked to one of them. A person who helps manage the online forum 4chan told TechCrunch, without sharing their name, that they are sure the shared information and pictures are true.

"I have no reason to think differently," the janitor said.

I'm quite surprised. 4chan's moderators have had information leaked before, but this problem is clearly much bigger," the moderator told TechCrunch. "I'm not happy about this situation. I'm sure most other people aren't happy either. But many of us have been doing this job for a long time. Sharing people's personal information online has always been popular on 4chan, and we've always known there was a chance we could be found out.

"I'm very worried about the leaked information, for clear reasons," said the janitor. "I think it's a bigger problem that a hacker or hackers took control of 4chan than just the screenshots, especially for the website to keep working."

The cleaner also said that it seems the hacker got the personal information of people who subscribe to 4chan Pass. These are users who pay the website to avoid limits on posting and use a special VIP area, according to the cleaner.

4chan did not answer an email asking for a comment. The email was sent to the website's press email address.

4chan is a website where people can share ideas, often without using their real names. It's a kind of image board where users, who might be bored, try to shock each other, sometimes by sharing very offensive pictures or text. Sometimes, things from 4chan, like simple internet jokes or extreme ideas, can spread into the real world and even influence violence from far-right groups.

Memes like Pepe the Frog and rage comics became popular on 4chan and are now common everywhere online. But 4chan is most famous for its political parts, where extreme right-wing ideas can make young users believe in white supremacist ideas. QAnon, a group of far-right conspiracy theorists who support President Donald Trump, began on 4chan.

In 2019, a shooter killed 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand. He had used the website 4chan a lot since he was a teenager. In 2022, an 18-year-old man killed 10 Black people in New York. He copied ideas from the New Zealand shooter's online writings in his own long document.