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
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
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
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
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.
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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