Kun.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Kun.exe process comes from a malicious application that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system pretty much unusable as a result of high CPU usage.

What is Kun.exe process?

Kun.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Kun.exe Windows Process

Kun.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU utilization, 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 often used on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Kun.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often may cause bad results.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Microsoft Defender is stopped;
  • CPU and GPU is loaded at 80-90% exactly after the system start
  • Cooling fans are running at high speed and create a lot of noise
  • A single process in Task Manager consumes all CPU and GPU power
  • How dangerous is the Kun.exe miner?

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

    Firstly, Kun.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, since 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 browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.

    Kun.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Kun.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Xx.exe, Works.exe, Rundll32.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Kun.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary bad activity coin miners perform to your personal computer. Kun.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malevolent operations correctly, it wrecks the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new notes – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be gone back to the original in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, performing at peak level for a long period of time may trigger damage to your device and raise power bills. Hardware elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and covered CPU fan is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if touched while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Kun.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. GPUs are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely an unwanted case when the performance of your video card plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Kun.exe coin miner virus?

    Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources
    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 untrustworthy site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Therefore, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for every setup. Prior to criticizing these guys for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your PC.

    How to remove the Kun.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.

    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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.

    Spanish Turkish

    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    Security engineer focused on malware behavior, removal workflows, and Windows hardening. Robert reviews threat articles for practical accuracy, checking detection names, symptoms, and cleanup steps before publication.

    Leave a Comment