Avast-scan.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Avast-scan.exe executable file comes from a malevolent program that can properly be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system pretty much unfunctional as a result of high CPU utilization.
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What is Avast-scan.exe process?

Avast-scan.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have specified before, Avast-scan.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file can be diverse, however, the impacts are almost always identical. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware power of your desktop to perform this process. This malware doesn’t care about the fact that you probably want to use your machine for other activities – it will continuously use over 80% of your CPU power.

Avast-scan.exe Windows Process

Avast-scan.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU use

Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their tasks. 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 a processor for system work, so Avast-scan.exe coin miner viruses do not 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 element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very strong desktop is required. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of dozens of graphic cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks 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

  • Extremely bad performance
  • CPU/GPU cooler fan creates a lot of noise
  • High temperature of the device (for laptops)
  • 80-90% consumption of CPU/GPU resources by an unknown process
  • Microsoft Defender is not working
  • How dangerous is the Avast-scan.exe miner?

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

    Firstly, Avast-scan.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, since all processor power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly slow performance. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that does a job online.

    Avast-scan.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameAvast-scan.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorTelegramunosetup.exe, Bsmss.exe, Setupsmss.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Avast-scan.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners do to your system. Avast-scan.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malevolent operations correctly, it wrecks the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are added by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be thrown back to the original in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your computer’s performance, performing at peak power for a long period of time can trigger damage to your machine as well as raise power bills. PC elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and covered CPU fan is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while working, for instance, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Avast-scan.exe virus can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely an unwanted case when the performance of your graphic card decreases on 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Avast-scan.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 common malevolent programs through “severe” viruses. Adware frequently acts as a carrier for Avast-scan.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that about 30% of all viruses spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Avast-scan.exe is right one of them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious site as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Avast-scan.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 demands making use of special tool. Proper anti-malware program must have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage also on weak PCs. Additionally, it is recommended to have proactive security in your protection tool – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for various factors. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb choice that fits all of the discussed characteristics.5

    Before the malware removal, it is important to boot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Avast-scan.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU capacity, it is needed 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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, along with the majority of non-critical operating system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Avast-scan.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.

    Avast Detections

    Remove Avast-scan.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Avast-scan.exe

    Description: The Avast-scan.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Avast-scan.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

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. 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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