Auto-updater.exe process belongs to a malevolent application that can properly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer almost unfunctional as a result of high CPU utilization.
What is Auto-updater.exe process?
Auto-updater.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Auto-updater.exe – Very high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Auto-updater.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often may result in unhappy effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Auto-updater.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, Auto-updater.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, as all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely slow performance. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.
Auto-updater.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Auto-updater.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 Auto-updater.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners do to your computer. Auto-updater.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To conduct all malevolent operations successfully, it wrecks the security components 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 load of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be thrown back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, performing at peak level for long times may cause damage to your device as well as raise electricity costs. PC elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Compact and well-protected processor cooling system is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while working, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Auto-updater.exe virus can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Auto-updater.exe coin miner virus?
Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the untrustworthy site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to earn money. Hence, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these individuals for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Auto-updater.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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, just like the majority of non-crucial operating system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you 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.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
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