Ccupdate.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Ccupdate.exe executable file is related to a malevolent program that can correctly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system pretty much unfunctional because of high CPU use.
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What is Ccupdate.exe process?

Ccupdate.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have mentioned in the introduction, Ccupdate.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file can be diverse, however, the effects are usually the identical. Because coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware power of your personal computer to perform this process. This virus doesn’t care about the fact that you may need to use your machine for other tasks – it will always use over 80% of your processor power.

Ccupdate.exe Windows Process

Ccupdate.exe – Really high CPU and GPU usage

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as critical as processor for system work, so Ccupdate.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes can cause unhappy results.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining term means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful machine is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “classic” 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

  • 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 Ccupdate.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, Ccupdate.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your needs, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that works online.

    Ccupdate.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameCcupdate.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorSetpoint.exe, Cthkctrl.exe, Updreg.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Ccupdate.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a single negative thing coin miners do to your PC. Ccupdate.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To carry out all malicious operations correctly, it ruins the protection mechanisms 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 load of new notes – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be gone back to the original in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak power for long times can trigger damage to your machine as well as increase power expenses. PC components are created to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Little and covered CPU fan is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while running, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Ccupdate.exe miner can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Ccupdate.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 widespread malicious programs through “serious” viruses. Adware sometimes functions as a carrier for Ccupdate.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that approximately 30% of all malware spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Ccupdate.exe is just among them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the unreliable site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to make money. Thus, there is a huge lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for each installation. Before criticizing these guys for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Ccupdate.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 the use of specific software. Appropriate anti-malware program should have high capability at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization also on weak systems. Furthermore, it is better to have on-run security in your protection solution – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for various factors. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits all of the discussed characteristics.5

    Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Ccupdate.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.

    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 applications, just like the majority of non-critical system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Ccupdate.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 Ccupdate.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Ccupdate.exe

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