Flop.exe process belongs to a malicious application that can properly be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system pretty much unfunctional because of high CPU utilization.
What is Flop.exe process?
Flop.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Flop.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU usage
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Flop.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It often may result in sad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Flop.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, Flop.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, since all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your demands, 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 slow performance. Pages will open for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.
Flop.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Flop.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Opce.exe, Vc.exe, Asd.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Flop.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary bad activity coin miners do to your computer. Flop.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To complete all malicious operations successfully, it wrecks the protection features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments shall be reverted to the original 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 trigger damage to your device and raise power expenses. Hardware elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Small and well-protected CPU cooling system is hard to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while working, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Flop.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Flop.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 item on your PC is by downloading it from the dubious web page as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. Thus, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for every installation. Before blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK 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 figure for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Flop.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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, along with the majority of non-crucial operating system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer 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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