Lsass4.exe executable file belongs to a malicious application that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer almost unusable as a result of high CPU use.
What is Lsass4.exe process?
Lsass4.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have pointed out earlier, Lsass4.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file can be different, but the impacts are generally the identical. Considering that coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware power of your desktop to conduct this procedure. This malware doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you may need to make use of your computer for other tasks – it will continuously take over 80% of your processor power.
Lsass4.exe – Very high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as essential as CPU for system work, so Lsass4.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes can lead to sad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a strong machine is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of dozens of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Lsass4.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First of all, Lsass4.exe virus makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, because all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, 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 slow efficiency. Pages can open up for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.
Lsass4.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Lsass4.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Wermgr.exe, Secinit.exe, Sethc.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Lsass4.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single bad thing coin miners do to your computer. Lsass4.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malevolent functions successfully, it wrecks the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent detection. 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 PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be reverted to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, performing at peak power for long times can trigger damage to your machine as well as increase electricity bills. PC elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Tiny and covered processor fan is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while working, for instance, by the user much earlier before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Lsass4.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also prone to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Lsass4.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 among “severe” malware. Adware sometimes acts as a carrier for Lsass4.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that around 30% of all malware spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Lsass4.exe is just one of them.4
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 website as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. For this reason, there is a very big temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for every setup. Before blaming these guys for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Lsass4.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Eliminating such a virus needs the use of specific app. Proper anti-malware program should have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization also on weak computers. Furthermore, it is better to have proactive protection in your protection tool – to prevent the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these features for different reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits each of the discussed characteristics.5
Prior to the malware removal, it is important to boot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Lsass4.exe miner takes a lot of processor power, 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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, along with the majority of non-critical system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Lsass4.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 Lsass4.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Lsass4.exe
Description: The Lsass4.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Lsass4.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.
- Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
