Googlevssagent.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Googlevssagent.exe process is related to a malevolent program that can accurately be identified as a coin miner trojan. That malware type utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much nonfunctional as a result of high CPU usage.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review
It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!
When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.
Gridinsoft Anti-Malware 6-day trial available.
EULA | Privacy Policy | 10% Off Coupon
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to be the first to know about news and our exclusive materials on information security.

What is Googlevssagent.exe process?

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

As I have actually specified in the previous paragraph, Googlevssagent.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file can be different, but the consequences are usually the same. Because coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware capacity of your personal computer to run this operation. This malware doesn’t care about the fact that you probably want to use your system for other activities – it will constantly use over 80% of your CPU power.

Googlevssagent.exe Windows Process

Googlevssagent.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Googlevssagent.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes may cause bad consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a high-end machine is needed. Exactly, the GPU is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters 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 Googlevssagent.exe miner?

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

    First, Googlevssagent.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, since all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience extremely sluggish efficiency. Pages can open up for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who does a job online.

    Googlevssagent.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Googlevssagent.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Aggregatorhost.exe, Windows.security, Drive.watchdog
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Googlevssagent.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a solitary negative thing coin miners do to your system. Googlevssagent.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To perform all malevolent functions correctly, it ruins the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new entries – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be reverted to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your computer slow, running at peak level for a long period of time may cause damage to your device as well as increase electricity costs. PC elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Tiny and covered CPU cooling system is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if touched while working, for example, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Googlevssagent.exe miner can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an undesirable case when the performance of your graphic card plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Googlevssagent.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 one of the most prevalent malicious programs through “major” malware. Adware frequently works as a carrier for Googlevssagent.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that approximately 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Googlevssagent.exe is right with them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    An additional way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious website as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a huge lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for every setup. Before blaming these guys for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay 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 program and new parts for your computer.

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

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

    Eliminating such a virus requires making use of special app. Effective antivirus must have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage also on weak computers. In addition, it is recommended to have proactive protection in your security tool – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these features for various factors. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect choice that fits each of the mentioned characteristics.5

    Prior to the malware removal, it is important to boot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Googlevssagent.exe miner takes a lot of CPU capacity, it is needed 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 programs, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Googlevssagent.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 Googlevssagent.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Googlevssagent.exe

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

    Sending
    User Review
    3.6 (5 votes)
    Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)

    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.

    Spanish Turkish

    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.

    Leave a Reply

    Sending