A killer poke is a conversational term for causing physical damage to a computer system by altering values in its memory. The term “poke” refers to the POKE command in the BASIC programming language, which is used to set a unit of memory to a certain value. For example, with a Commodore 64, a malicious program can control a 5 1/4" floppy drive motor with a POKE command, instruct the drive to read past its mechanical limits and cause damage.

An extreme example of this hacking technique is the Stuxnet worm, which in 2010, disabled one-fifth of all uranium enrichment centrifuges operating in Iran. The worm caused the motors of the centrifuges to accelerate and decelerate, rapidly destroying the aluminum rods in the machines.

BASIC, Hardware terms, Memory, Programming, Security terms

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