The incident at Binance could be the biggest theft of any kind in history. We answer some key questions

• North Korean group blamed for $6.3bn crypto heist

• Tell us: have you been affected?

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has been hit by a $6.3bn heist that, according to experts, is likely to be the work of North Korea.

This is not the first time a crypto market has been targeted by hackers, and the rogue state has a track record of this type of theft. Here we answer some key questions about what’s happened:

We’d like to hear from people who’ve been directly affected by the hack or now have concerns about crypto security

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has been hit by an industry-record $6.3bn (£4.7bn) hack.

Binance has scrambled to freeze the affected assets, with about $3bn located so far. Co-founder Yi He said the company would cover “all hacking losses”. Analysts have attributed the attack to North Korean state backed hackers.

Warm your hands on these sweet little envelopes of gently spiced, toffee-glossed apples wrapped in puff pastry. Perfect Bonfire Night fodder

These plump and rustic little parcels are perfect for Bonfire Night: warming, portable and, wrapped in a napkin and held in one hand, easy to eat outdoors. Filled with gently spiced, toffee-glossed apples, they are deliberately more homely hand pies than anything overly neat or patisserie-like. The small amount of miso in the filling deepens the toffee flavour and rounds out the sweetness, without making it taste too savoury or funky.

Chinas Staatschef ist unzufrieden mit seinen Funktionären: Viele setzen politische Vorgaben offenbar nur zum Schein um – wohl auch aus Angst vor der nächsten Säuberungswelle.

Binance exchange says it will cover customer losses as it scrambles to freeze affected assets, with about $3bn located so far

• Q&A: How big a deal is the $6.3bn crypto heist?

• Tell us: have you been affected by the Binance hack?

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has been hit by a record $6.3bn (£4.7bn) hack described as the biggest heist in history, with experts identifying North Korea as the likely culprit.

Binance said it would cover all customer losses as it froze $3bn of the affected assets.

A new trail in the national park traces the legacy of Welsh industry, while offering some of the UK’s finest riverside and mountain walks

The vital moment comes a couple of hours into the walk. I drop down from a tussocky hill towards the village of Y Fron. There’s an abandoned slate-quarrying machine and a grassy track that suddenly emerges on the rim of a deep lake-filled crater. The water is the colour of an old bruise. Around the rim is a fence of lichen-crusty slates like gravestones. It’s a dark, brooding spectacle and totally unexpected. At that moment, I know that whoever designed this route knew what they were doing.

This is the Llwybr Llechi Eryri (Snowdonia Slate Trail), an 83-mile hike that follows a great loop around the national park, starting in Bangor and ending in Bethesda. It strings together a series of abandoned slate quarries with some of the finest riverside and mountain walking in the UK. I’m doing just three days, starting in Llanberis and heading to Betws-y-Coed via stops in Beddgelert and Llan Ffestiniog.

Information released by Distributed Denial of Secrets is the third such government data disclosure in the last month

Data identifying more than 41,000 employees and contractors for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was released on Wednesday in an unprecedented leak that reveals how the agency is organized. The records, which were made public by the transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets, reference operation names, surveillance programs and information on undercover initiatives.

DHS did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Quick, simple finger food that children will love for Halloween: pumpkin and carrot fritters with a chilli-coriander relish, and pumpkin baked into a dark chocolate slice

It would be lazy to write, with a rueful shake of the head, that Halloween gets bigger every year. Halloween is huge. I have seen it grow, vicariously, through my children year on year and, despite previously approaching it with a Scrooge-like attitude, something in me has shifted. Perhaps it’s simply the pleasure I see light up in all toddlers through to teens; they can’t get enough of the fandango of dressing up, mixed with its unmistakable, irresistible sprinkle of wickedness. So now I am in. Last year, we had 60 14-year-olds dancing the night away, and I wish I’d made them the recipes here, both of which play on the deliciously sweet, wonderfully savoury nature of pumpkin, that most brilliant of Mexican fruit. Quick, utterly delicious and the perfect finger food. Happy Halloween!

Application made for group claim seeking compensation for companies for alleged overcharging on customer card payments

Visa and Mastercard are being threatened with a potential £5bn lawsuit for allegedly stifling competition and charging UK businesses excessive fees.

The law firms Harcus Parker and Hausfeld have lodged an application at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in hopes of pursuing a group claim that would compensate companies who, they claim, have been overcharged on customer card payments since October 2020.

‘Session cookies’ are a primary target for hackers letting them hijack and use your accounts

You’ve had a busy morning of life admin, logging into various accounts to check balances and make payments. At the end of a productive few hours you close your laptop and move on to your next job.

What you don’t know is that fraudsters have hijacked your session with the bank and are now able to access your account. You are the victim of cookie theft, which belongs to a type of fraud known as “session hijacking”.

Government’s emergency planning advice has sparked sales of essentials but no panic stockpiling, say prepping shop owners

When the UK government launched its “Protect and Survive” public information campaign in 1980 on how to stay alive after a nuclear attack, it was met with a combination of scepticism, disbelief and derision.

The advice included how to build a “fallout room” at home, how to whitewash windows to protect from a blast, and how to store a dead body for up to five days.

Human heroism is celebrated in profoundly personal ways in this extraordinary tale of a mind-boggling investigation into massive criminal organisations. It’s part The Wire, part The Imitation Game

We begin with the audio of a horrifying call made to the French police in 2020. Two men are driving home when their car is attacked. The police ask for the caller’s name as bullets ricochet around the vehicle. “Who cares what we’re called?” the man shouts. “I’m going to die!” Seconds later, his companion is dead. This killing (of a mechanic called Houcine Hakkar) was planned and discussed in detail on an app called Sky ECC. The police were at the tip of an enormous iceberg.

Showing modern law enforcement on screen can be a challenge: in the online era, it’s less cops and robbers; more zeros and ones. So it’s a surprise to be confronted with something as thrilling as The Narco Hack. This three-part documentary explores an extraordinary investigation by French, Belgian and Dutch police, during which they undermined several massive criminal organisations via methods at once impressively logical and completely mind-boggling by compromising Sky ECC’s encryption software.

Whip winter squash puree into a creamy filling and pipe direct into the heart of a cracking seasonal pudding

At this time of year, I aim to get as much pumpkin as I can into my meals, including desserts. If I’ve been organised, I’ll roast and puree some from scratch, but I seem always to have at least one tin of pumpkin puree to hand, which I can use quickly in anything from pumpkin pies to cookies and muffins. Here, it’s whipped into cream with some spices, then piped into crackly puffs of choux for a chic, autumnal dessert.

Regulators say removing ‘unnecessary burdens’ will save businesses about £2bn over 10 years

The UK is watering down rules introduced in the aftermath of the financial crisis that were designed to hold City bosses accountable for wrongdoing.

The plans, put forward by the financial industry’s two top regulators, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), include a reduction in reporting for “lower-level misconduct” and would also free 140,000 managers from extra checks.

Websites around the world have been taken offline as governments and businesses scramble to fix a flaw in the computer language PHP. There are fears that hackers could exploit the vulnerability to steal data, take control of web servers and disrupt services. Millions of attempts have already been made to attack websites since the issue with the programming language was revealed, cybersecurity companies have said. Michael Safi speaks to global technology reporter Aisha Down

Problem in language that underpins 70% of sites has led governments and companies to pull sites offline to patch fault

• Tell us: have you been affected by the PHP code flaw?

• What is PHP, and how bad is the computer language flaw causing website shutdowns globally?

Websites around the world have been hit by millions of attempts to exploit a recently discovered vulnerability in their code, cybersecurity companies have said, as the US warned the flaw could allow attackers to take control of web servers, steal data and disrupt services.

The problem in the PHP programming language, which underpins about 70% of the world’s websites, emerged on Wednesday causing governments and companies to pull their websites off the internet before they could be attacked and so they could patch the fault.

New Mexico lawsuit claims ‘in exchange for furthering Epstein’s criminal project, his associates received generous salaries’

The attorney general of New Mexico on Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime attorney, Darren Indyke, and Epstein’s longtime accountant, Richard Kahn, accusing them of having “facilitated and concealed” Epstein’s crimes, and is seeking to stop them from being paid by Epstein’s estate while the litigation plays out.

The lawsuit, filed in the US district court for the district of New Mexico, names Kahn and Indyke as defendants both in their individual capacity, and in their capacity as co-executors of Epstein’s estate. The complaint also names Epstein’s estate, and the 1953 Trust, which holds the estate’s assets.