Cheat.exe executable file is related to a malicious application that can correctly be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much unusable as a result of high CPU use.
What is Cheat.exe process?
Cheat.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Cheat.exe – Very high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally utilize 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 CPU for system work, so Cheat.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes can lead to sad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Cheat.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, Cheat.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 wants, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely slow efficiency. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.
Cheat.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Cheat.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Remove.drm, Remove.cr_hand, Cr_auto.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Cheat.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary bad activity coin miners perform to your computer. Cheat.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malicious functions effectively, it ruins the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be gone back to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, running at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device and raise electricity bills. PC elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Little and well-protected processor cooling system is hard to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while working, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Cheat.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also prone to have fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad situation when the performance of your graphic card plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Cheat.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 thing on your PC is by downloading it from the untrustworthy web page as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to earn money. Hence, there is a very big temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each installation. Before criticizing these individuals for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Cheat.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 apps, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high processor 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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