Kmspico.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Kmspico.exe process belongs to a harmful application that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly unusable as a result of high CPU utilization.
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What is Kmspico.exe process?

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

As I have pointed out before, Kmspico.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the executive file may be diverse, however, the effects are generally the same. Because coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware power of your desktop to run this operation. This virus doesn’t care about the fact that you probably need to make use of your machine for other activities – it will always consume over 80% of your CPU power.

Kmspico.exe Windows Process

Kmspico.exe – Very high CPU and GPU use

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as important as CPU for system work, so Kmspico.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It sometimes can result in unhappy effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining term means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very strong machine is needed. Exactly, the GPU is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of dozens of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who gain money 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 Kmspico.exe miner?

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

    First, Kmspico.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that does a job online.

    Kmspico.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameKmspico.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorCaptures.exe, Flbmusic.exe, Itibiti.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Kmspico.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a single negative thing coin miners do to your PC. Kmspico.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malevolent functions successfully, it ruins the security components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments are about to be reverted to the initial state in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your computer slow, running at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your machine and raise power expenses. PC elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and covered CPU fan is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while working, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Kmspico.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also prone to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Kmspico.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 prevalent malicious programs through “major” malware. Adware often works as a carrier for Kmspico.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that about 30% of all malware spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Kmspico.exe is right with them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    An additional way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious website 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 get paid. For this reason, there is a very big temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for every installation. Before criticizing these individuals for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Kmspico.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 special tool. Appropriate anti-malware program must have high capability at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage also on weak systems. In addition, it is recommended to have on-run protection in your protection solution – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for different factors. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits all of the discussed features.5

    Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Kmspico.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU power, 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 applications, along with the majority of non-crucial 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.

    Remove Kmspico.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 Kmspico.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Kmspico.exe

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