Hfhelper32.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Hfhelper32.exe process belongs to a malevolent program that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly nonfunctional as a result of high CPU use.
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What is Hfhelper32.exe process?

Hfhelper32.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have pointed out in the introduction, Hfhelper32.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file can be different, however, the consequences are generally the identical. Since coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your personal computer to conduct this operation. This virus doesn’t take note of the fact that you may want to use your system for other activities – it will continuously use over 80% of your CPU power.

Hfhelper32.exe Windows Process

Hfhelper32.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU use

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will likely struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as essential as processor for system work, so Hfhelper32.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often can cause unhappy results.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the operation 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 very powerful desktop is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. 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

  • 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 Hfhelper32.exe miner?

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

    First, Hfhelper32.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all CPU 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 web browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally slow performance. Pages will open up for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.

    Hfhelper32.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameHfhelper32.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorIe4uinit.exe, Bdeunlock.exe, Bdehdcfg.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Hfhelper32.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary bad thing coin miners perform to your personal computer. Hfhelper32.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To carry out all malevolent functions properly, it wrecks 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 ton 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 initial state in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your system’s performance, performing at peak level for long times can cause damage to your device and increase power expenses. Hardware elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

    Small and well-protected CPU cooling system is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Hfhelper32.exe malware can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely an undesirable situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Hfhelper32.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 common malevolent programs among “major” malware. Adware frequently works as a carrier for Hfhelper32.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that about 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Hfhelper32.exe is right one of them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the suspicious web page as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to earn money. For this reason, there is a very big temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these individuals for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Hfhelper32.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 requires using special tool. Appropriate security tool should have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization even on weak computers. In addition, it is better to have on-run security in your security solution – to prevent the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for different reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits each of the discussed characteristics.5

    Before the virus removal, it is important to boot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Hfhelper32.exe miner takes a lot of CPU capacity, it is required 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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, just like the majority of non-crucial Windows 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 Hfhelper32.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 Hfhelper32.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Hfhelper32.exe

    Description: The Hfhelper32.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Hfhelper32.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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