[grandalf]

It's my understanding that all Lithium Ion batteries can fairly easily catch fire if they are not treated somewhat carefully, typically by a circuit that prevents loads that might cause it to heat up.

Is it theoretically possible that malware could be designed that would cause a Lithium Ion powered smart phone's battery to catch fire? I'm thinking it would be more of a low-level firmware update where a programmable logic device was used as part of the battery protection circuit.

Thoughts?

[ZoFreX]

This is about Macbooks, not phones, but it's interesting background on your question nonetheless: https://media.blackhat.com/bh-us-11/Miller/BH_US_11_Miller_B...

[inyorgroove]

Though I am only an electronics hobbyist I don't think this is possible. Most of the battery charging chips that you are talking about don't have firmware, that would require them to be I would guess 10x more expensive.