Gwctlsrv.exe process belongs to a malevolent application that can correctly be defined as a coin miner trojan. That malware form uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer almost unfunctional as a result of high CPU utilization.
What is Gwctlsrv.exe process?
Gwctlsrv.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Gwctlsrv.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as vital as processor for system work, so Gwctlsrv.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often may cause bad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Gwctlsrv.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Gwctlsrv.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, because all processor power is consumed by a virus. 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 browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that does a job online.
Gwctlsrv.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Gwctlsrv.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Xtuservice.exe, Iracingservice64.exe, Hvsimgr.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Gwctlsrv.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your system. Gwctlsrv.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To conduct all malevolent operations correctly, it wrecks the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be reverted to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, running at peak power for a long period of time can cause damage to your machine as well as increase electricity costs. Hardware components are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Little and well-protected processor cooling system is hard to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Gwctlsrv.exe virus can easily lead to GPU failure3. GPUs are also tend to have very fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad situation when the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Gwctlsrv.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
An additional way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the untrustworthy web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a very big temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for every installation. Before criticizing these guys for hacking and also 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 sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Gwctlsrv.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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, just like the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high CPU 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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