\”fish.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

\”fish.exe executable file comes from a harmful application that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware form uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much unfunctional because of high CPU utilization.

What is \”fish.exe process?

\”fish.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

\”fish.exe – Very high CPU/GPU usage

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that case, 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 \”fish.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often can lead to unhappy consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Microsoft Defender is stopped;
  • CPU and GPU is loaded at 80-90% exactly after the system start
  • Cooling fans are running at high speed and create a lot of noise
  • A single process in Task Manager consumes all CPU and GPU power
  • How dangerous is the \”fish.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, \”fish.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, as all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, 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 experience exceptionally sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.

    \”fish.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name \”fish.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Settings.exe, Microsofthost.exe, Appmodule.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic \”fish.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a solitary bad activity coin miners perform to your personal computer. \”fish.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To complete all malevolent functions effectively, it wrecks the security mechanisms 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 number of new notes – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be gone back to the initial state in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your system’s performance, performing at peak power for long times can trigger damage to your machine and increase power expenses. Hardware components are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Tiny and covered CPU cooling system is hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while working, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by \”fish.exe miner can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also tend to have very fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get \”fish.exe coin miner virus?

    Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources
    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    Another way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the dubious site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a huge temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every installation. Before criticizing these people for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid paying for 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 program as well as new parts for your PC.

    How to remove the \”fish.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.

    Boot into Windows Safe Mode

    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.

    windows safe mode boot option with command prompt

    When your system is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, just like 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 processor usage of the coin miner.

    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    Security engineer focused on malware behavior, removal workflows, and Windows hardening. Robert reviews threat articles for practical accuracy, checking detection names, symptoms, and cleanup steps before publication.

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