Gtavmod.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Gtavmod.exe process comes from a malevolent application that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer roughly unusable as a result of high CPU use.
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What is Gtavmod.exe process?

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

As I have actually pointed out before, Gtavmod.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file can be different, but the effects are generally the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware power of your personal computer to conduct this process. This virus does not care about the fact that you may need to use your device for other activities – it will consistently consume over 80% of your processor power.

Gtavmod.exe Windows Process

Gtavmod.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU use

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as essential as CPU for system work, so Gtavmod.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It often can lead to unhappy consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining term means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a strong PC is required. 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 conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ computers 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 Gtavmod.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, Gtavmod.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, since all processor power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your needs, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any sort of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that works online.

    Gtavmod.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your personal computer. Gtavmod.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malevolent operations successfully, it ruins the security components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. 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 system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be gone back to the original in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides slowing down your computer, performing at peak level for long times can trigger damage to your machine and increase electricity expenses. Hardware components are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Small and covered CPU fan is not very easy to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if touched while running, for example, by the user much before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Gtavmod.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Gtavmod.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 malevolent programs through “severe” malware. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Gtavmod.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that around 30% of all malware spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Gtavmod.exe is just among them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    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 versions of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. For this reason, there is a huge lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each setup. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Gtavmod.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 involves making use of specific software. Proper anti-malware program must have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage also on weak systems. On top of that, it is better to have on-run security in your protection solution – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal option that fits each of the specified features.5

    Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Gtavmod.exe miner takes a lot of CPU capacity, it is needed to halt 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-critical system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Gtavmod.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 Gtavmod.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Gtavmod.exe

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