#4chan security breach trending on ‘X’

#4chan security breach!!

DR.NAMRATA MISHRA TIWARI

#4chan is an imageboard website was taken offline due to a security breach where hackers exploited outdated software vulnerabilities. The attack led to the leakage of the site’s source code, the restoration of the/ qa/ board by the hackers, and potentially compromised user privacy with claims of exposed IP addresses and moderator identities.

#4chan very likely got hacked because they were running on an extremely out of date version of PHP that has a lot of vulnerabilities and exploits and are using deprecated function to interact with their MySQL Database. A user tweeted.

Source code is the fundamental component of a computer program, written in a programming language, like Python,C++ or Java. It is the set of instructions that tells a computer how to function. Source Code is implemented in a website, application, or other computer program. It is designed to be human readable, so that developers and other users can understand it.

#4chan is an anonymous English language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher ‘Moot’ Poole in October 2003.

#4chan is an online imageboard where people can post pictures and messages anonymously. It’s kind of like a giant bulletin board where anyone can start a conversation or join one. It’s divided into different boards based on topics, like video games, anime, technology, or random stuff.

Key points:

• Anonymous: Most users don’t use usernames.

• Fast-paced: Posts disappear quickly unless they get lots of replies.

• Unfiltered: It has very little moderation, which means it can be funny, weird, or even offensive. Some parts of internet culture, memes, and trends actually started on 4chan—like Rickrolling or Pepe the Frog.

4chan slang, a “Jannie” (short for janitor) is a term used to refer to volunteer moderators on the site. They’re not full mods or admins but help clean up posts, delete rule-breaking content, and keep things organized. The term is often used mockingly  , especially when users feel a janitor deleted something unfairly. ‘jannie’ sarcastic jabbs on twitter’

As of 2022, 4chan received more than 22million  unique monthly visitors, of whom approximately half are from United States. 4chan has been the subject of media attention as a source of controversies, including the coordination of pranks and harassment against websites and internet users, and the posting of illegal and offensive content.

On April 15 ,2025  the site was taken down with a major hack suspected. On another website , soyjak.party, information purporting to be from the hack was being released, claiming admin level  access, a lack of updates to the site since 2016, and identities of admins …

Web Security101: Keep your code and software up to date!!