Hhjk.exe executable file belongs to a malevolent application that can correctly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer roughly unfunctional as a result of high CPU use.
What is Hhjk.exe process?
Hhjk.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Hhjk.exe – Really high CPU and GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Hhjk.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often may result in bad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Hhjk.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Hhjk.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, as all processor power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from exceptionally sluggish efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that works online.
Hhjk.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Hhjk.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Raven.qt, Eo.core, Services32.ns |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Hhjk.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single negative thing coin miners perform to your PC. Hhjk.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malevolent functions successfully, it ruins the protection features 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 number of new notes – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments shall be gone back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your computer, running at peak power for long times may cause damage to your device and increase electricity costs. PC components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Compact and covered processor cooling system is quite hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for example, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Hhjk.exe malware can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also tend to have very fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely a bad situation when the performance of your graphic card decreases on 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Hhjk.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
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. Users who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for every setup. Before criticizing these individuals for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Hhjk.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 applications, just like the majority of non-critical operating system components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high processor 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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