Such tools have existed for long time. NSA tools catalog had a tool[1] that took control of HDD firmware and provided Application persistence across re-formatting. Date mentioned on the brochure[1] is June 2008. Of course most of your PC peripherals have their own processor, if sufficient documentation is available, PC peripherals can be easily weaponised. They can even have a wireless implant that allows HDD to communicate with outside world, and trigger exploit (send data, or trigger code execution), remotely.

https://leaksource.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/nsa-ant-irate...