Drill.exe executable file belongs to a harmful program that can correctly be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer almost unusable as a result of high CPU use.
What is Drill.exe process?
Drill.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have mentioned in the previous paragraph, Drill.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file may be diverse, however, the consequences are almost always the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware capacity of your personal computer to perform this operation. This virus does not pay attention to the fact that you may want to make use of your system for other activities – it will always use over 80% of your processor power.
Drill.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as important as CPU for system work, so Drill.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It often can cause bad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful PC is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of dozens of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks 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
How dangerous is the Drill.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, Drill.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, because all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your demands, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally sluggish efficiency. Pages can open for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.
Drill.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Drill.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Roamingproquota.exe, Asdsdagsda.exe, Qwdaxza.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Drill.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary bad thing coin miners do to your computer. Drill.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To carry out all malevolent functions properly, it wrecks the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments shall be thrown back to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak level for long times can trigger damage to your device as well as raise electricity expenses. PC elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Compact and well-protected processor cooling system is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for example, by the user much before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Drill.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also prone to have increased 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 exploited in such a way.
How did I get Drill.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 one of the most widespread malevolent programs through “serious” malware. Adware often works as a carrier for Drill.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that approximately 30% of all malware spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Drill.exe is just among them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
One more way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the untrustworthy site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to get paid. Hence, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for every setup. Prior to criticizing these people for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Drill.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 tool. Proper antivirus must have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage even on weak computers. In addition, it is better to have proactive security in your protection solution – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these elements for various factors. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect choice that fits each of the mentioned features.5
Before the malware removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Drill.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU capacity, it is needed 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-crucial Windows components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Drill.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 Drill.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Drill.exe
Description: The Drill.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Drill.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.
