Asus.exe executable file comes from a harmful program that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly unusable as a result of high CPU usage.
What is Asus.exe process?
Asus.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually pointed out before, Asus.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file can be different, however, the effects are almost always the same. Considering that coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your PC to conduct this operation. This virus doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you may want to make use of your machine for other tasks – it will consistently consume over 80% of your CPU power.
Asus.exe – Very high CPU and GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as critical as CPU for system work, so Asus.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes can lead to sad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining is a term that means the activity 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 GPU is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of dozens of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who gain money 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
How dangerous is the Asus.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Asus.exe malware 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 necessities, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience extremely sluggish efficiency. Pages can open up for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that works online.
Asus.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Asus.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | 12.exe, Msiexec64.exe, Conhost.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Asus.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary unpleasant activity coin miners do to your computer. Asus.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To conduct all malicious functions properly, it ruins the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new entries – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be thrown back to the original in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your system’s performance, running at peak power for long times may cause damage to your machine and increase power costs. PC components are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Compact and well-protected CPU fan is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while spinning, for instance, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Asus.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is surely an undesirable situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Asus.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 malevolent programs through “major” viruses. Adware frequently acts as a carrier for Asus.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that around 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Asus.exe is right one of them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
An additional way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the unreliable website as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to earn money. Hence, there is a huge temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these individuals for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Asus.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 requires the use of special program. Proper security tool must have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage even on weak systems. On top of that, it is better to have proactive protection in your security solution – to halt the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these features for various reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal choice that fits each of the discussed features.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Asus.exe miner consumes 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.
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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, along with the majority of non-critical system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Asus.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 Asus.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Asus.exe
Description: The Asus.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Asus.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.
