Legosa.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey

Legosa.exe executable file belongs to a harmful application that can correctly be defined as a coin miner trojan. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly unusable because of high CPU utilization.

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What is Legosa.exe process?

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

As I have actually mentioned earlier, Legosa.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file can be different, however, the effects are generally the same. Since coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware power of your desktop to run this process. This malware doesn’t take note of the fact that you may need to make use of your machine for other tasks – it will continuously take over 80% of your processor power.

Legosa.exe Windows Process

Legosa.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU use

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Legosa.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It sometimes can cause sad consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a strong PC is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of dozens of graphic cards to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.

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 Legosa.exe miner?

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

    First, Legosa.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, because all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly slow performance. Pages will open for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that does a job online.

    Legosa.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” damage is not a single bad thing coin miners do to your system. Legosa.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To conduct all malevolent functions properly, it ruins the security features 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 lot of new notes – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be reverted to the initial state in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides slowing down your computer, performing at peak level for long times can trigger damage to your machine and increase power bills. Hardware components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and well-protected processor cooling system is hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if touched while working, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Legosa.exe miner can easily lead to GPU failure. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Legosa.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 widespread malevolent programs through “serious” malware. Adware frequently serves as a carrier for Legosa.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – 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 Legosa.exe is right one of them.

    Unwanted banners adware

    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 unreliable site as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. For this reason, there is a huge lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these guys for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Legosa.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 needs making use of specific tool. Effective anti-malware program must have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage even on weak PCs. Additionally, it is recommended to have on-run protection in your protection solution – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for various reasons. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits each of the specified characteristics.2

    Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Legosa.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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, along with the majority of non-critical system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Legosa.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 for Legosa.exe

    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 Legosa.exe process

    Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.

    Remove Legosa.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Legosa.exe

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