This is in response to a few questions I have received by users asking this question.
Yes, but...
In general, software cannot harm hardware. The vast majority of computers cannot be physically harmed by software.
There are few exceptions that can happen:
When software directly controls hardware; and when the hardware being controlled contains weaknesses that the program may exploit.
Stuxnet, a complex piece of malware particularly designed to ruin computer-controlled centrifuges used to enrich uranium, is the go-to example, as someone has previously highlighted on reddit. The program would cause the centrifuges to speed up and slow down outside of their working boundaries, destroying the motors that powered them.
There have been less spectacular cases. Back in the days of the Apple II, there existed a malicious piece of software that could destroy Apple 5.25" floppy drives by seeking a track that was too high, causing the read/write heads to continuously slam against the stop.
More recently, early multi sync monitors might be destroyed by overheating the switching transistor, breaking the flyback transformer, or both if software set them to a mode the monitor didn't allow.
In several examples, the software caused harm by exploiting what may be deemed a hardware design fault.
Hardware can also be rendered inoperable by software without being destroyed. Many UEFI systems can be prevented from booting if the flashable firmware is overwritten with junk. It is not "damaged" in hardware, but the built-in software required for startup is missing, which might be a challenging problem to overcome.
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from hacking: security in practice https://ift.tt/QtYCHqb
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