Aggregatorhost.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

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

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

As I have actually pointed out previously, Aggregatorhost.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file can be different, however, the consequences are almost always the identical. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware capacity of your PC to run this process. This malware doesn’t care about the fact that you may need to use your system for other tasks – it will consistently consume over 80% of your CPU power.

Aggregatorhost.exe Windows Process

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

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will likely struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Aggregatorhost.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes can lead to sad effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a high-end computer is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Microsoft Defender is stopped;
  • CPU and GPU is loaded at 80-90% exactly after the system start
  • Cooling fans are running at high speed and create a lot of noise
  • A single process in Task Manager consumes all CPU and GPU power
  • How dangerous is the Aggregatorhost.exe miner?

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

    First off, Aggregatorhost.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, because all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with incredibly sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.

    Aggregatorhost.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameAggregatorhost.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorWindows.security, Drive.watchdog, Windowssecurity.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Aggregatorhost.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a single bad thing coin miners do to your personal computer. Aggregatorhost.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To execute all malicious operations effectively, it ruins the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new entries – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be reverted to the original in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your PC slow, running at peak level for long times can cause damage to your device and raise electricity costs. PC components are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and covered processor fan is quite hard to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Aggregatorhost.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also tend to have increased wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Aggregatorhost.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 the most widespread malevolent programs among “severe” malware. Adware sometimes serves as a carrier for Aggregatorhost.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that about 30% of all malware spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Aggregatorhost.exe is right with them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the unreliable site as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to earn money. Hence, there is a very big temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each setup. Before blaming these people for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.

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

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

    Getting rid of such a virus requires the use of special tool. Effective anti-malware program must have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak systems. On top of that, it is better to have proactive security in your security tool – to halt the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these features for different reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect choice that fits each of the mentioned qualities.5

    Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Aggregatorhost.exe miner takes a lot of processor power, it is required 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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, just like the majority of non-critical system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Aggregatorhost.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 Aggregatorhost.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Aggregatorhost.exe

    Description: The Aggregatorhost.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Aggregatorhost.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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