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