The Russian government has been sponsoring cyberattackers to exploit day zero vulnerabilities in U.S. and other Western government software. These cyberattackers hack the systems and add surveillance technology, similar to the U.S. government's firmware attacks sent to several Middle Eastern and Russian government departments.

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It's not the first time the Russian government has been accused of state sponsored hacks against the U.S. government, but security firm FireEye claims this is the way Russia is able to make a lot of the attacks work.

The Russian hacking group utilizes day zero or zero day exploits on Adobe Flash and Windows capable of attacking before the U.S. government is able to fix some of the vulnerabilities or download a new patch, giving hacking groups like APT28 a short window of opportunity.

FireEye said APT28 is a highly skilled hacking group unlike most of the organizations coming from Russia that prey on social engineering vulnerabilities rather than software updates and faulty patches. It has warned the U.S. government and other government departments of the Russian threat to security.

It's not like Russia is alone when it comes to state sponsored hacking. The U.S. government has been accused of attacking Chinese, German, Belgian, Dutch and Middle Eastern networks either for its global surveillance network or to steal information.

China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the U.K. and other groups either state sponsor or acquire hackers capable of attacking other nations. It's becoming a rather common area in government spying or information groups, like the U.K. GCHQ, U.S. NSA or the Canadian CSE.

Even though governments deny they have cyber attacked any other nation, it's becoming a back and forth war online to implant surveillance or steal information right from under the other government's nose.

Analysts claim this rise in government cyber attacks will lead to heavier investments in cybersecurity, bringing in larger groups to make sure data is secure and encrypted to a level other state sponsored groups cannot crack.

The U.S. and China recently got into a fight about the state of cyber attacks, both claiming the other has been attacking government departments and stealing information.

TagsRussia, U.S., cyberattacks, APT28, Adobe Flash