Atom.exe process belongs to a malevolent application that can accurately be identified as a coin miner trojan. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly unusable because of high CPU usage.
What is Atom.exe process?
Atom.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Atom.exe – Very high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as vital as processor for system work, so Atom.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It often can cause bad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a strong machine is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who make profit 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
How dangerous is the Atom.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, Atom.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience extremely slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any sort of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person who works online.
Atom.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Atom.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Main.exe, Rtkugui64.exe, Gamemanagerservice.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Atom.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single negative activity coin miners perform to your PC. Atom.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To execute all malevolent operations successfully, it wrecks the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be thrown back to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your system’s performance, performing at peak power for a long period of time can trigger damage to your machine as well as increase power expenses. Hardware elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Small and well-protected processor fan is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while running, for example, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Atom.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. GPUs are also prone to have increased wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable case when the performance of your video card plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Atom.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 among “severe” malware. Adware often works as a carrier for Atom.exe malware infiltration: 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 approximately 30% of all viruses spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Atom.exe is just among them.
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the suspicious website as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. Thus, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each setup. Prior to criticizing these people for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Atom.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
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 apps, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
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.
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