Sebastian Gottschalk wrote:
> mike4ty4@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> > But could such damage be done on the average PC nowadays by a virus?
> > Is there anything that a virus can do to the average PC that could
> > possibly force a replacement of hardware?
>
> As already stated: You can flash the firmware of about any device. The
> repair can usually only be done at the manufacturer, and the costs
> sometimes exceed the price of a new device.

Are there viruses or worms out there that do that? I know CIH/Chernobyl
does
it to the BIOS chip, but only for specific models. Does this mean that
any virus
designed for maximum damage would have to contain specialized routines
for
nearly every piece of hardware in use? Would it be possible to have a
virus
that could hit 95% of the PCs out there and wreck ALL their flash
chips?
Why do hardware manufacturers make it so that software on the computer
can perform the reflashings, anyway??? That's a security vulnerability
if there
ever was one.