Ghoods.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Ghoods.exe process comes from a malevolent application that can properly be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer almost nonfunctional due to high CPU use.
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What is Ghoods.exe process?

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

As I have actually mentioned previously, Ghoods.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file can be different, but the effects are generally the same. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your personal computer to conduct this process. This virus doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you probably need to make use of your PC for other activities – it will always take over 80% of your processor power.

Ghoods.exe Windows Process

Ghoods.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU use

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as critical as processor for system work, so Ghoods.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes can result in bad effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining is a term that means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very strong machine is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2

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 Ghoods.exe miner?

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

    Initially, Ghoods.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, all it pays attention to is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly sluggish performance. Pages will open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that does a job online.

    Ghoods.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary bad thing coin miners do to your system. Ghoods.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malicious operations properly, it wrecks the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new entries – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be thrown back to the original in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your computer’s performance, performing at peak level for long times may cause damage to your machine and increase electricity costs. Hardware elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and covered processor cooling system is quite hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Ghoods.exe miner can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. GPUs are also tend to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad case when the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Ghoods.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 common malicious programs through “severe” malware. Adware often acts as a carrier for Ghoods.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that about 30% of all malware spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Ghoods.exe is right with them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    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 dubious site as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to make money. For this reason, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for each installation. Before blaming these guys for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in such a way? 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 desktop.

    How to remove the Ghoods.exe miner from my PC?

    The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software

    Getting rid of such a virus needs making use of specific tool. Proper antivirus should have high capability at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage also on weak computers. Additionally, it is better to have proactive security in your protection solution – to stop the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these features for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal choice that fits all of the specified features.5

    Prior to the virus removal, it is important to boot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Ghoods.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU capacity, it is required to stop 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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, 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.

    Remove Ghoods.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 Ghoods.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Ghoods.exe

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