ArmouryLiveUpdate.exe is Virus or Safe?

Written by Robert Bailey
ArmouryLiveUpdate.exe is a legitimate executable file associated with ASUS Armoury Crate software. Armoury Crate is a utility provided by ASUS for managing and optimizing various aspects of ASUS hardware, including gaming peripherals, system performance, and RGB lighting.

ArmouryLiveUpdate.exe is responsible for automatically updating the Armoury Crate software and its components to ensure that users have the latest features and bug fixes. It is a legitimate and essential part of the ASUS Armoury Crate software suite and should not be considered malicious or harmful. However, it is always important to ensure that you download software from official and trusted sources to avoid any potential risks.

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What is Armouryliveupdate.exe process?

Armouryliveupdate.exe is a legitimate executable file associated with ASUS Armoury Crate software

ArmouryLiveUpdate.exe is a legitimate executable associated with ASUS Armoury Crate software and is not inherently malicious.

However, if you notice that ArmouryLiveUpdate.exe is consuming a significant amount of CPU resources or if it is located in an unexpected location like the temp folder, it is possible that your system may be compromised or that a malicious file has masqueraded as ArmouryLiveUpdate.exe. In such cases, it is recommended to run a thorough scan of your system using reputable antivirus software to identify and remove any potential malware.

Additionally, make sure to download software updates and drivers directly from the official ASUS website to ensure their authenticity.

Armouryliveupdate.exe Windows Process

Armouryliveupdate.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as important as CPU for system work, so Armouryliveupdate.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It often can result in sad consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a high-end machine is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of dozens of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.1

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 Armouryliveupdate.exe miner?

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

    First, Armouryliveupdate.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, as all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly sluggish efficiency. Pages can open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.

    Armouryliveupdate.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameArmouryliveupdate.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorAsusupdate.exe, Aahmsvc.exe, P508poweragent.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Armouryliveupdate.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your computer. Armouryliveupdate.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To complete all malevolent operations properly, 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 ton of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be gone back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your computer slow, running at peak level for a long period of time can cause damage to your machine and raise power bills. Hardware elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Tiny and covered processor cooling system is hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while working, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Armouryliveupdate.exe virus can easily lead to graphic card failure2. GPUs are also prone to have fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely a bad case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Armouryliveupdate.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 widespread malicious programs through “serious” viruses. Adware often serves as a carrier for Armouryliveupdate.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that about 30% of all malware spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Armouryliveupdate.exe is right among them.

    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 dubious website as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to make money. For this reason, 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. Before criticizing these individuals for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your PC.

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

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

    Eliminating such a virus requires the use of specific program. Proper security tool must have high capability at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage also on weak computers. In addition, it is better to have on-run protection in your security solution – to halt the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these features for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits each of the mentioned qualities.3

    Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Armouryliveupdate.exe miner takes a lot of processor power, it is required to stop 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 programs, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Armouryliveupdate.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 Armouryliveupdate.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Armouryliveupdate.exe

    Description: ArmouryLiveUpdate is a software component provided by ASUS as part of their Armoury Crate utility. Armoury Crate is a software suite designed to manage and optimize various aspects of ASUS hardware, including gaming peripherals, system performance, and RGB lighting. ArmouryLiveUpdate specifically handles the task of automatically updating the Armoury Crate software and its associated components.

    Operating System: Windows

    Application Category: Trojan

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    User Review
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    References

    1. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    2. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    3. 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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