New Delhi, Oct. 8 -- Hackers linked to the North Korean government have stolen over $2 billion in cryptocurrency so far this year, according to a blog post by the blockchain analysis firm Elliptic. This staggering amount marks the largest annual total on record, with three months still remaining in the year.

The previous record was in 2022, when North Korea stole $1.35 billion. Elliptic's analysis estimates the regime's total amount of stolen crypto since 2017 to be at least $6 billion, though the firm notes this figure may still be an underestimate.

"The actual figure may be even higher. Attributing cyber thefts to North Korea is not an exact science," reads the blog post.

The firm explained the difficulty in precise attribution, stat...