000.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
000.exe executable file belongs to a malicious application that can accurately be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much nonfunctional because of high CPU utilization.
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What is 000.exe process?

000.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have pointed out earlier, 000.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file may be different, but the consequences are almost always the same. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware capacity of your desktop to conduct this operation. This malware does not care about the fact that you may want to use your machine for other tasks – it will consistently take over 80% of your CPU power.

000.exe Windows Process

000.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will likely struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so 000.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes can result in bad effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining term means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very strong computer is required. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ PCs instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Extremely bad performance
  • CPU/GPU cooler fan creates a lot of noise
  • High temperature of the device (for laptops)
  • 80-90% consumption of CPU/GPU resources by an unknown process
  • Microsoft Defender is not working
  • How dangerous is the 000.exe miner?

    Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system

    Initially, 000.exe virus makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, because all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly sluggish efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who works online.

    000.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name000.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior1234.exe, Contogl.exe, Framework.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic 000.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a single negative activity coin miners perform to your PC. 000.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To carry out all malicious operations successfully, it wrecks the security components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be reverted to the original in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides slowing down your computer, running at peak level for a long period of time may cause damage to your machine and raise power expenses. PC components are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Tiny and covered CPU fan is not very easy to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while spinning, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by 000.exe virus can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get 000.exe coin miner virus?

    Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources

    Coin miners are one of the most prevalent malicious programs among “serious” viruses. Adware sometimes serves as a carrier for 000.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that about 30% of all malware spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and 000.exe is just among them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    An additional way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a very big temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for each setup. Prior to blaming these individuals for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the 000.exe miner from my PC?

    The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software

    Removing such a virus involves making use of special program. Appropriate anti-malware program must have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak PCs. In addition, it is better to have proactive protection in your protection tool – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for different reasons. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great choice that fits all of the specified characteristics.5

    Before the virus removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since 000.exe miner takes a lot of processor capacity, it is needed to halt it before launching the security program. Otherwise, your scan will last for years, even though the GridinSoft program is pretty lightweight.

    Booting the PC into Safe Mode with Networking

    Press the Start button, then choose Power, and click on Reboot while holding the Shift key on the keyboard.

    Boot into Windows Safe Mode

    Windows will reboot into recovery mode. In that mode, choose Troubleshoot→ Startup Settings→ Safe Mode with Networking. Press the corresponding button on your keyboard to choose that option.

    windows safe mode boot option with command prompt

    When your system is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, just like the majority of non-crucial system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove 000.exe coin miner virus with GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware. You can use this anti-malware program for free during its 6-day trial period. In that term, all functions are available, and it takes no payments to remove malware from your system.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware free trial

    After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.

    Scanning in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    When the scan is finished, press the Clean Now button to remove all detected elements from your system. This procedure takes less than a minute.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware after the scan process

    Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.

    Remove 000.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: 000.exe

    Description: The 000.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This 000.exe will create your CPU to go for very warm temperatures for prolonged periods of time, which could reduce the life of the CPU.

    Operating System: Windows

    Application Category: Trojan

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    I'm Robert Bailey, a passionate Security Engineer with a deep fascination for all things related to malware, reverse engineering, and white hat ethical hacking.

    As a white hat hacker, I firmly believe in the power of ethical hacking to bolster security measures. By identifying vulnerabilities and providing solutions, I contribute to the proactive defense of digital infrastructures.

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