Liveupdateagent.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Liveupdateagent.exe process belongs to a malevolent application that can properly be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost nonfunctional as a result of high CPU use.
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What is Liveupdateagent.exe process?

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

As I have actually mentioned previously, Liveupdateagent.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file can be different, however, the impacts are generally the identical. Since coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware capacity of your desktop to run this procedure. This virus doesn’t take note of the fact that you may want to make use of your machine for other tasks – it will constantly use over 80% of your CPU power.

Liveupdateagent.exe Windows Process

Liveupdateagent.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Liveupdateagent.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It often may lead to unhappy consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining term means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a high-end computer is required. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of dozens of GPUs to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks 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 Liveupdateagent.exe miner?

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

    First, Liveupdateagent.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, since all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly sluggish efficiency. Pages can open for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.

    Liveupdateagent.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” harm is not a solitary unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your personal computer. Liveupdateagent.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To complete all malicious functions correctly, it ruins the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new notes – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be reverted to the original in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your computer’s performance, running at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device as well as raise power bills. PC components are created to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Small and well-protected CPU cooling system is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if affected while working, for example, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Liveupdateagent.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. GPUs are also prone to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Liveupdateagent.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 widespread malicious programs through “severe” malware. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Liveupdateagent.exe malware injection: it shows 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. However, the statistics say that approximately 30% of all viruses spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Liveupdateagent.exe is right with them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    Another way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the unreliable web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. For this reason, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every installation. Before blaming these guys for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Liveupdateagent.exe miner from my PC?

    The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software

    Getting rid of such a virus involves making use of specific software. Appropriate antivirus should have high capability at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization also on weak systems. In addition, it is recommended to have proactive security in your protection solution – to prevent the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits each of the specified features.5

    Prior to the virus removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Liveupdateagent.exe miner takes a lot of processor 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.

    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 apps, 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 CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Liveupdateagent.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 Liveupdateagent.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Liveupdateagent.exe

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