Getmac.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Getmac.exe executable file comes from a malicious program that can correctly be identified as a coin miner trojan. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly nonfunctional because of high CPU use.

What is Getmac.exe process?

Getmac.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Getmac.exe Windows Process

Getmac.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Getmac.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes can cause bad consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Extremely bad performance
  • CPU/GPU cooler fan creates a lot of noise
  • High temperature of the device (for laptops)
  • 80-90% consumption of CPU/GPU resources by an unknown process
  • Microsoft Defender is not working
  • How dangerous is the Getmac.exe miner?

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

    Initially, Getmac.exe virus makes your computer 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 demands, all it pays attention to is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any sort of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.

    Getmac.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Getmac.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Postinstall.exe, Anydesk.exe, Vmsa.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Getmac.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a single bad activity coin miners do to your computer. Getmac.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To complete all malevolent functions properly, it wrecks the protection features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments shall be thrown back to the original in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your computer’s performance, running at peak power for a long period of time may trigger damage to your device and raise electricity bills. PC components are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Tiny and well-protected processor fan is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Getmac.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad case when the performance of your video card decreases on 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Getmac.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

    An additional way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the suspicious website as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to earn money. Hence, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these guys for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Getmac.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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, along with the majority of non-critical system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you 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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