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
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
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
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
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.
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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