Antivirus.exe executable file is related to a malevolent application that can properly be identified as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much unfunctional as a result of high CPU utilization.
What is Antivirus.exe process?
Antivirus.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have specified in the previous paragraph, Antivirus.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file can be different, however, the effects are almost always the identical. Considering that coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your PC to conduct this procedure. This malware does not take note of the fact that you probably need to make use of your device for other tasks – it will continuously consume over 80% of your processor power.
Antivirus.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Antivirus.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often can lead to bad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a strong computer is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of video cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Antivirus.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First of all, Antivirus.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, since all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it focuses on is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with incredibly slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Antivirus.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Antivirus.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Lineinst.exe, Minerhash.exe, Zecminer64.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Antivirus.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary negative activity coin miners do to your personal computer. Antivirus.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To carry out all malicious operations effectively, it wrecks the protection features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new notes – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be gone back to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, running at peak level for a long period of time may trigger damage to your machine and increase power costs. Hardware components are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Tiny and well-protected processor cooling system is hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while running, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Antivirus.exe virus can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely an undesirable case when the performance of your video card plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Antivirus.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 malicious programs through “severe” malware. Adware often functions as a carrier for Antivirus.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that approximately 30% of all viruses spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Antivirus.exe is right one of them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious site as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to earn money. For this reason, there is a very big lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every installation. Before criticizing these guys for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program and new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Antivirus.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 involves the use of special program. Effective security tool should have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage even on weak systems. In addition, it is better to have proactive protection in your security solution – to prevent the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these features for various reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb option that fits all of the mentioned characteristics.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Antivirus.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.
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.
When your computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Antivirus.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.
After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.
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.
Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.
Remove Antivirus.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Antivirus.exe
Description: The Antivirus.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Antivirus.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
User Review
( votes)References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
- Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
