Cipher.exe executable file belongs to a malevolent program that can properly be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly unfunctional as a result of high CPU utilization.
What is Cipher.exe process?
Cipher.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually specified in the introduction, Cipher.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file can be diverse, but the effects are generally the identical. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware capacity of your personal computer to perform this procedure. This malware does not pay attention to the fact that you may want to use your machine for other tasks – it will constantly consume over 80% of your CPU power.
Cipher.exe – Really high CPU and GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Cipher.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes can result in sad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining is a term that means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful machine is needed. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Cipher.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Cipher.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, since all processor power is consumed 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 browser is open, you will likely struggle with incredibly slow efficiency. Pages will open for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.
Cipher.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Cipher.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Wsmprovhost.exe, Wsmprovhost.exe, Devicepairingwizard.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Cipher.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single negative thing coin miners do to your PC. Cipher.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malevolent operations successfully, it ruins the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your system’s performance, performing at peak level for long times may trigger damage to your machine as well as raise power expenses. PC elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Little and well-protected CPU fan is quite hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while running, for example, by the user much before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Cipher.exe virus can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also tend to have fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Cipher.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 prevalent malevolent programs through “severe” viruses. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Cipher.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that approximately 30% of all viruses spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Cipher.exe is right one of them.4
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 untrustworthy website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to make money. Hence, there is a huge lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these guys for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Cipher.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Eliminating such a virus needs making use of special program. Effective security tool must have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak PCs. In addition, it is recommended to have on-run protection in your protection tool – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these elements for various reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits all of the mentioned features.5
Prior to the malware removal, it is important to boot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Cipher.exe miner consumes a lot of processor power, it is required to halt 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.
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, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Cipher.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.
After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.
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.
Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.
Remove Cipher.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Cipher.exe
Description: The Cipher.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Cipher.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
User Review
( votes)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.
- Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
