What to know as crypto industry suffers ‘largest heist in history’

Cryptocurrency worth billions has been stolen from a major exchange in what has been termed “the largest bank heist in human history”.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform, was targeted by a “complex attack” involving more than $6.3bn (£4.7bn) in digital currency. Around half of the affected assets have been frozen, the crypto giant said.

Deposits and withdrawals have been temporarily “disabled” but as of 8am UK time on Friday, the hacker was still thought to control about $2.4bn (£1.8bn) worth of Bitcoin and Ether, the two biggest cryptocurrencies by valuation.

• Several crypto analytics firms said the hack resembled previous North Korean-linked incidents.
• Binance is yet to attribute blame but said initial investigations suggest the hack “may have started with a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop”.
• That “gave an attacker access to a service container, where they submitted unauthorized withdrawal transactions”.

The attacker did not simply use one engineer’s permissions, and this was not a single ‘one-click’ action. It involved a more complex attack process.

Richard Teng, Binance’s co-CEO

Emily Taylor, co-founder of the Global Signal Exchange, told the BBC the hack set a “grim new record” and was conducted “on a speed and scale we’ve never seen”.

The hack is thought to have been planned for at least 36 hours and carried out in about 20 minutes. It is understood to eclipse the scale of the previous largest breach, a $1.5bn (£1.1bn) North Korea-linked hack on the Bybit exchange last year.

Binance promises to cover losses

Could the UK really be facing a ‘catastrophic decade’?

The Government’s plans to help households with the cost of living will not prevent “catastrophic” living standards from falling, a leading think-tank has warned.

Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said in her post-Budget analysis: “This decade looks set to be the worst decade for growth in household incomes on record.”

The think-tank warned the average median income will fall by 3 per cent from 2027 to the end of the decade.

Chancellor narrows his options

The IFS criticised Chancellor John Healey for choosing to fund a £4.7bn black hole in the defence investment plan in part from the Treasury’s reserves. This further narrows Healey’s options to keep spending plans on course in the event of another global economic shock, the think-tank said, and suggests he could face rampant speculation about tax rises ahead of the next Budget.

A clear short-term risk with the Chancellor’s choices is that next year, with low headroom and a spending review that looks pretty brutal for some departments, we see another season of damaging speculation about tax rises.

IFS director, helen miller

Bacon butties and grumbling MPs: Inside Healey’s first Budget

When John Healey stood up at the Despatch Box to deliver his maiden Budget on Wednesday, he had reason to feel confident.

Does testosterone really help improve menopause brain fog?

There is “insufficient” evidence to back the claim that testosterone can improve brain fog and memory symptoms linked to the menopause, a new study suggests.

Social media is “flooded” with claims that testosterone can improve these symptoms in menopausal women, experts said.

What you need to nkow

While there is anecdotal information that testosterone can help, experts stressed that there is currently not enough evidence to establish the effect. Experts at University College London said testosterone prescriptions have increased in the UK, reflecting growing interest in its role during menopause.

The team reviewed five studies which looked at whether testosterone can improve memory in post menopausal women.

A closer look at the detail

244 women

Some 244 women with an average age of 57 involved in the review were given either a placebo or testosterone at varying levels.

• The research team did not find significant improvements for cognitive function among participants taking testosterone.
• “The findings should be interpreted as insufficient to establish an effect, rather than as evidence of no effect,” the authors wrote in the journal Reproduction And Fertility.

The expert view

While there may be some anecdotal evidence for this in perimenopausal women, we cannot claim testosterone improves cognition during menopause without further evidence. More research is needed to understand any links between  and brain health.

Professor Aimee Spector, senior author of the study and director of the UCL Menopause Mind Lab

Psychologists sound alarm over chatbots ‘harmful’ mental health advice

Psychologists have raised concerns about unregulated AI chatbots providing “unqualified and harmful” information to people seeking mental health advice.

It comes as a British Psychological Society (BPS) survey found that practitioners have seen a 49 per cent rise in the number of patients using AI for support in the last 12 months.

• One member told the survey they are worried people are turning to technology as it feels “safer”, but warned there is a risk of increasing isolation that can impact wellbeing.
• The BPS poll of 197 psychologists, counsellors and psychotherapists found seven in 10 are somewhat or very concerned about clients using AI for mental health support.

A closer look at the figures

80%

told the survey they are concerned clients are becoming overly reliant on the technology, while around three quarters (76 per cent) said it is negatively affecting client wellbeing.

• The BPS poll comes after a survey of 2,000 children aged 11-17 by Barnardo’s and the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) found more than four in 10 (43 per cent) had used AI for advice or emotional support.

The expert view

This research shows there is real cause for concern for those that use AI for mental health therapy, and that concern is coming directly from psychological practitioners on the frontline providing vital in-person support. The risk of unregulated open access AI chatbots providing unqualified and harmful advice remains very real.

Dr Laura Dean, president of the BPS

Russell Brand’s wife hails ‘kind’ husband but tells court he cheated when dating

Russell Brand’s wife Laura Brand has told his rape trial her husband is “caring” and “kind” and there is honesty at the centre of their marriage.

What Laura Brand told the court

She said they rekindled their romance in 2015, married two years later, and they now have three children together.

What the court heard

Russell, my husband, is caring, he is kind, he is a wonderful father to our children. He is an amazingly attentive husband. He has got an eye for detail I’ve never known before. The way he treats me is to really know me, I feel very seen by him in every way. I love him very much.

laura brand

• Laura said she knew about his reputation before they met and she learned while they were dating that he had been having sex with other people.
• She said they stayed friends as Brand had a brief marriage to singer Katy Perry, and they got back together as a couple in 2015.
• Asked if she was “aware of his promiscuity” during their time apart, she said: “I was very aware of it. I could read about it regularly in the papers.”

During his wife’s evidence, Brand could be seen smiling and laughing at times, and he appeared to be mouthing words towards his wife as she talked about his 2024 baptism.

Laura Brand’s evidence was briefly interrupted when defence barrister Ian Winter KC attempted to ask for her view on the “truth of the allegations”. Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC interjected, and the judge pointed out she is not an expert witness.

Brand faces claims that he raped and sexually assaulted women over the course of 10 years of his showbiz career.

On Wednesday, he insisted consent is “non-negotiable” and told jurors it is “more important than sex itself”. He denies three charges of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of attempted indecent assault.