Ethminer.exe executable file belongs to a harmful program that can accurately be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost unusable because of high CPU usage.
What is Ethminer.exe process?
Ethminer.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have mentioned previously, Ethminer.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file may be diverse, however, the impacts are generally the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware power of your personal computer to perform this procedure. This virus doesn’t care about the fact that you probably want to use your PC for other tasks – it will always use over 80% of your CPU power.
Ethminer.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as critical as processor for system work, so Ethminer.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It often may cause unhappy consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the operation 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 high-end machine is required. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of video cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who gain money 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 Ethminer.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, Ethminer.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, because all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your demands, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with exceptionally sluggish efficiency. Pages can open for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that does a job online.
Ethminer.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Ethminer.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Srbpolaris.exe, Sgrmbroker.exe, Program.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Ethminer.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single negative activity coin miners do to your PC. Ethminer.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malevolent functions properly, it wrecks the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be reverted to the initial state in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, performing at peak level for long times may cause damage to your machine and raise power bills. Hardware 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 covered processor cooling system is quite hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while spinning, for example, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Ethminer.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also prone to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely an unwanted case when the performance of your video card plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Ethminer.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 common malevolent programs through “major” viruses. Adware sometimes serves as a carrier for Ethminer.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that approximately 30% of all malware spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Ethminer.exe is right among them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the unreliable site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to make money. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for each setup. Before blaming these people for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Ethminer.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Removing such a virus demands making use of specific tool. Proper antivirus must have high capability at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization also on weak systems. On top of that, it is better to have on-run security in your security tool – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for different 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 all of the mentioned characteristics.5
Before the virus removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Ethminer.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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, along with the majority of non-crucial operating system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Ethminer.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 Ethminer.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Ethminer.exe
Description: The Ethminer.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Ethminer.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.
