Europrotokol.exe executable file belongs to a harmful program that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware type utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much nonfunctional as a result of high CPU usage.
What is Europrotokol.exe process?
Europrotokol.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have mentioned in the introduction, Europrotokol.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the executive file may be diverse, but the effects are generally the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your PC to perform this procedure. This malware does not take note of the fact that you probably need to use your desktop for other tasks – it will consistently use over 80% of your CPU power.
Europrotokol.exe – Very high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Europrotokol.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes may lead to sad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining means the activity 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 computer is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks 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 Europrotokol.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First of all, Europrotokol.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, as all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly slow performance. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who does a job online.
Europrotokol.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Europrotokol.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Cash.exe, Cash.exe, Spepopud.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Europrotokol.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single negative thing coin miners perform to your PC. Europrotokol.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To perform all malevolent operations properly, it wrecks the security features 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 lot of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be thrown back to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak level for a long period of time can cause damage to your device as well as raise power bills. Hardware 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.
Compact and covered CPU fan is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while running, for example, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Europrotokol.exe virus can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely an unwanted situation when the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Europrotokol.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 “serious” viruses. Adware frequently acts as a carrier for Europrotokol.exe malware injection: 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 say that approximately 30% of all viruses spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Europrotokol.exe is just among them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
One more way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the suspicious website as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every installation. Before blaming these guys for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Europrotokol.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 needs making use of specific program. Effective anti-malware program should have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage also on weak computers. Furthermore, it is recommended to have proactive security in your protection solution – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these features for different reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits each of the specified characteristics.5
Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Europrotokol.exe miner takes a lot of processor capacity, it is required 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 applications, along with the majority of non-critical operating system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Europrotokol.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 Europrotokol.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Europrotokol.exe
Description: The Europrotokol.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Europrotokol.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.
