The well-known online forum 4chan was attacked by hackers on Tuesday.

When this was written, the 4chan website was not working, and people on social media said the site had stopped working sometimes for hours.

Messages on another website, which TechCrunch saw, were happy about the hack. One user said the hacker was inside 4chan's system for more than a year.

Pictures were shared online that seemed to show the hidden parts of the website 4chan. These pictures included the website's source code and tools for banning users. This information should only be seen by the people who manage the website, called moderators. The shared information also had a list of the people who are said to be 4chan moderators and 'janitors'. Janitors are users who can take away posts and discussions but have less power than moderators. Moderators, for example, can also see users' IP addresses.

Because 4chan is known for its violent political links, this cyberattack could show the people who run these online forums, which are very important for alt-right groups.

TechCrunch contacted several leaked email addresses and spoke to one person linked to an address. A 4chan moderator, who wanted to stay anonymous, said they are sure the leaked data and screenshots are real.

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

I'm quite surprised. The people who manage 4chan have had information leaked before, but this problem is clearly much bigger," the janitor told TechCrunch. "I don't like what's happening. I'm sure most other people don't either. But many of us have been doing this for a long time. Sharing people's private information online has been a popular activity on 4chan for years, and we always knew we might be identified.

The janitor said, "I'm very worried about the information that got out, for clear reasons. I think it's probably a bigger problem for the website's future that hackers took control of 4chan than just the leaked pictures."

The janitor also said that it seems the hacker got the personal information of people who subscribe to 4chan Pass. These subscribers pay to avoid limits on how often they can post and to get into a special VIP area.

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 post messages and pictures, and they usually don't use their real names. Some people think it's a bad place because users sometimes post very offensive things to try and shock others. However, sometimes things from 4chan become popular online jokes (memes) or even influence bad ideas in the real world, like hate speech.

Memes like Pepe the Frog and others first became popular on 4chan, but now you can find them everywhere online. However, 4chan is most known for its political forums, where extreme right-wing ideas can influence young users to believe in white supremacist views. The QAnon group, which supports President Donald Trump and believes in far-right conspiracy theories, also started on 4chan.

The person who shot and killed 51 people in New Zealand in 2019 used 4chan a lot from a young age. In 2022, a teenager killed 10 Black people in New York. His long written statement copied ideas from the New Zealand shooter's online writing.