Microsoftsecurityapp.exe process belongs to a malicious program that can accurately be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost nonfunctional as a result of high CPU usage.
What is Microsoftsecurityapp.exe process?
Microsoftsecurityapp.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have pointed out before, Microsoftsecurityapp.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file can be diverse, but the effects are usually the identical. Considering that coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware capacity of your desktop to perform this operation. This malware doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you may want to use your PC for other tasks – it will constantly take over 80% of your processor power.
Microsoftsecurityapp.exe – Really high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Microsoftsecurityapp.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It often may cause unhappy consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining term means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a high-end computer is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. 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 Microsoftsecurityapp.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Microsoftsecurityapp.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, because all processor power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from exceptionally slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.
Microsoftsecurityapp.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Microsoftsecurityapp.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Intelunisonclient.exe, Lightingservice.exe, Dtsapo3service.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Microsoftsecurityapp.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners do to your system. Microsoftsecurityapp.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malicious operations successfully, it ruins the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be reverted to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your computer slow, running at peak level for long times can cause damage to your machine as well as raise electricity bills. Hardware components are created to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Small and well-protected processor fan is hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if touched while spinning, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Microsoftsecurityapp.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. GPUs are also tend to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad situation when the performance of your video card decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Microsoftsecurityapp.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 malevolent programs among “serious” viruses. Adware often works as a carrier for Microsoftsecurityapp.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that about 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Microsoftsecurityapp.exe is right among them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
An additional way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the suspicious website as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to make money. Thus, there is a huge temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each installation. Prior to criticizing these people for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software and new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Microsoftsecurityapp.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 the use of special program. Effective antivirus should have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak systems. In addition, it is better to have proactive security in your security solution – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for different reasons. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal option that fits all of the discussed qualities.5
Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Microsoftsecurityapp.exe miner takes a lot of processor capacity, 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.
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-crucial system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Microsoftsecurityapp.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 Microsoftsecurityapp.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Microsoftsecurityapp.exe
Description: The Microsoftsecurityapp.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Microsoftsecurityapp.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.
