Fw4.exe executable file is related to a malevolent application that can accurately be identified as a coin miner trojan. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer roughly unusable because of high CPU usage.
What is Fw4.exe process?
Fw4.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Fw4.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Fw4.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often may cause unhappy consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Fw4.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, Fw4.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, 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 extremely slow efficiency. Pages can open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Fw4.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Fw4.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Server.exe, Software_reporter_tool.exe, Proxypub.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Fw4.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary bad thing coin miners do to your PC. Fw4.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To perform all malicious operations successfully, it ruins the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be reverted to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, running at peak power for long times may cause damage to your device and raise electricity costs. PC components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Small and well-protected CPU cooling system is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while working, for instance, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Fw4.exe virus can easily lead to GPU failure3. Video cards are also tend to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an undesirable case when the performance of your video card plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Fw4.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
One more way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the suspicious web page as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to make 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 every installation. Before blaming these people for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Fw4.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 applications, just like the majority of non-critical operating 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.
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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