4Chan, an online forum notorious for its extreme right-wing content, appears to have been hacked – in a development some believe could spell the end of the controversial messageboard.
The concept of 4Chan is simple: anonymous users share pictures and text in forums.
Moderators monitor conversations, but the forum is infamous as a place for gory videos, non-consensual pornography and extremist views.
The website got mainstream attention in 2014 during Gamergate – a harassment campaign against women in gaming that resulted in bomb threats, death threats and women fleeing their homes.
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The harassment spread on 4Chan before the discussions were banned and moved to other similar message boards.
On Monday, a message appeared on parts of the site with the words: “U GOT HACKED”, according to Wired magazine.
As the website went down, reports began circulating saying the hackers were a rival internet faction and were releasing the personal details of moderators.
“What we’re seeing looks like a classic case of cybercriminals turning on each other – a digital turf war,” Graeme Stewart, head of public sector at Check Point, told Sky News.
“This isn’t new. Just as organised crime groups fight for ownership, power, and control in the real world, online gangs splinter, clash, and compete for status and influence.”
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Alon Gal, co-founder of Israeli cybercrime monitoring company Hudson Rock, said the claim of a hack “looks legit” and cited screenshots purporting to show 4chan’s backend infrastructure.
“What makes this dangerous is that these internal battles can be just as disruptive as external hacks,” said Mr Stewart.
“When a splinter group goes rogue, it’s not just reputation at risk – credentials, communication logs, and access to systems can all be thrown into the fire.”
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The fact that people’s identities are reportedly being leaked could be a particular concern for 4Chan moderators.
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.”
Although the site appears to be slowly and stutteringly coming back online, it may have suffered fatal damage, according to Mr De Cristofaro.
“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,” he said.
