Mi.exe process belongs to a malevolent application that can correctly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly nonfunctional as a result of high CPU use.
What is Mi.exe process?
Mi.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Mi.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Mi.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It sometimes may result in bad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Mi.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Mi.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, all it focuses on is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely slow efficiency. Pages can open up for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Mi.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Mi.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Rjnhlsk.exe, Windows.exe, Astrill.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Mi.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your computer. Mi.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To complete all malevolent functions properly, it ruins the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments shall be gone back to the original in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your computer slow, performing at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device and increase electricity bills. PC elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Small and covered CPU cooling system is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while running, for example, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Mi.exe miner can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable situation when the performance of your GPU decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Mi.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
Another way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the untrustworthy website as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to get paid. For this reason, there is a very big temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for each installation. Before blaming these guys for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Mi.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 programs, along with the majority of non-crucial system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system 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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