Cmstp.exe process is related to a harmful application that can properly be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly unusable because of high CPU usage.
What is Cmstp.exe process?
Cmstp.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually pointed out earlier, Cmstp.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the executive file may be diverse, however, the consequences are generally the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware capacity of your personal computer to conduct this operation. This virus doesn’t take note of the fact that you may want to use your device for other tasks – it will continuously consume over 80% of your CPU power.
Cmstp.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Cmstp.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes may lead to sad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a strong PC is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Cmstp.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Cmstp.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, because all CPU power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, 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 suffer from incredibly sluggish efficiency. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person who works online.
Cmstp.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Cmstp.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Other.exe, Psiphon3.exe, Lschax.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Cmstp.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your computer. Cmstp.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To carry out all malicious operations properly, it ruins the security 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 ton of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be gone back to the initial state in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, running at peak power for a long period of time may trigger damage to your machine as well as increase electricity bills. PC components are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Small and well-protected processor fan is not very easy to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Cmstp.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad situation when the performance of your graphic card plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Cmstp.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 “major” malware. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Cmstp.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that around 30% of all malware spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Cmstp.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 dubious web page as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to earn money. Therefore, there is a very big temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for each setup. Before blaming these guys for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing 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 software as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Cmstp.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 involves making use of specific tool. Appropriate anti-malware program should have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization also on weak systems. Additionally, it is better to have proactive security in your protection tool – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for different factors. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb choice that fits all of the mentioned features.5
Prior to the malware removal, it is important to boot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Cmstp.exe miner takes a lot of processor power, 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.
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 software, just like the majority of non-crucial Windows 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 Cmstp.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 Cmstp.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Cmstp.exe
Description: The Cmstp.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Cmstp.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.
