Flightsimulator.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Flightsimulator.exe process comes from a malevolent program that can accurately be identified as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer roughly unfunctional as a result of high CPU utilization.
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What is Flightsimulator.exe process?

Flightsimulator.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have mentioned before, Flightsimulator.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file may be different, but the effects are usually the identical. Considering that coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your PC to perform this procedure. This virus doesn’t care about the fact that you may need to make use of your system for other activities – it will always consume over 80% of your processor power.

Flightsimulator.exe Windows Process

Flightsimulator.exe – Really high CPU and GPU usage

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as vital as processor for system work, so Flightsimulator.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It often can result in bad effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining is a term that means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful computer is required. 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 computer systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. 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

  • Your device overheats (system unit/laptop body is very hot)
  • You are not able to open your apps or they are opening for ages
  • Unknown process is running in the background and consumes your PC resources
  • Windows Defender does not respond
  • How dangerous is the Flightsimulator.exe miner?

    Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system

    First, Flightsimulator.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly sluggish performance. Pages will 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.

    Flightsimulator.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameFlightsimulator.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorRsservcmd.exe, Fsscan.exe, Googleupdate.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Flightsimulator.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a single negative activity coin miners perform to your personal computer. Flightsimulator.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To perform all malicious operations correctly, it ruins the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be reverted to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your system’s performance, running at peak level for a long period of time can cause damage to your device and raise electricity bills. Hardware components 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 well-protected CPU cooling system is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for example, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Flightsimulator.exe malware can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely an unwanted case when the performance of your GPU decreases on 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Flightsimulator.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” malware. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Flightsimulator.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that around 30% of all malware spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Flightsimulator.exe is right one of them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the untrustworthy web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to earn money. Therefore, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for each installation. Prior to blaming these individuals for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your PC.

    How to remove the Flightsimulator.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 needs making use of specific software. Appropriate anti-malware program must have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization also on weak computers. Furthermore, it is better to have on-run security in your protection tool – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for various factors. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits each of the mentioned qualities.5

    Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Flightsimulator.exe miner takes a lot of processor 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.

    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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, along with the majority of non-crucial system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Flightsimulator.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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware free trial

    After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.

    Scanning in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware after the scan process

    Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.

    Remove Flightsimulator.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Flightsimulator.exe

    Description: The Flightsimulator.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Flightsimulator.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

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    I'm Robert Bailey, a passionate Security Engineer with a deep fascination for all things related to malware, reverse engineering, and white hat ethical hacking.

    As a white hat hacker, I firmly believe in the power of ethical hacking to bolster security measures. By identifying vulnerabilities and providing solutions, I contribute to the proactive defense of digital infrastructures.

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