Icue.exe executable file comes from a harmful application that can properly be recognized as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost nonfunctional as a result of high CPU utilization.
What is Icue.exe process?
Icue.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have specified previously, Icue.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file may be different, however, the effects are almost always the same. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware capacity of your personal computer to conduct this procedure. This malware does not take note of the fact that you may need to use your machine for other tasks – it will consistently take over 80% of your CPU power.
Icue.exe – Really high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Icue.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often may result in bad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining term means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a high-end PC is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ PCs instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Icue.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Icue.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, since all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely slow performance. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.
Icue.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Icue.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Fmservice64.exe, Udcuseragent.exe, Powermanager.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Icue.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary unpleasant activity coin miners do to your computer. Icue.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malevolent functions successfully, it ruins the protection features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments are about to be gone back to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, running at peak power for a long period of time can cause damage to your device and raise electricity bills. PC components are designed to easily deal 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 hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while spinning, for instance, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Icue.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is surely an undesirable case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Icue.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 the most common malicious programs through “major” malware. Adware frequently serves as a carrier for Icue.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that around 30% of all malware spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Icue.exe is right with them.
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
One more 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 that spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to earn money. For this reason, there is a huge temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for each setup. Before blaming these people for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Icue.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Removing such a virus requires the use of specific program. Effective anti-malware program must have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak computers. On top of that, it is recommended to have proactive security in your security solution – to prevent the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for various factors. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb choice that fits all of the discussed qualities.4
Before the malware removal, it is important to boot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Icue.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.
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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, just like the majority of non-crucial system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Icue.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.
After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.
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.
Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.
Remove Icue.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Icue.exe
Description: The Icue.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Icue.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
User Review
( votes)References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
