Mictray64.exe executable file comes from a malevolent application that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly nonfunctional due to high CPU use.
What is Mictray64.exe process?
Mictray64.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Mictray64.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as critical as processor for system work, so Mictray64.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often can result in sad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very strong computer is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ PCs instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Mictray64.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First off, Mictray64.exe virus makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, because all CPU power is used by a malware. 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 struggle with exceptionally slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that works online.
Mictray64.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Mictray64.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Cxutilsvc.exe, Cxaudiosvc.exe, Smartaudio3.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Mictray64.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your system. Mictray64.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To carry out all malicious operations successfully, it wrecks the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be reverted to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, running at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your machine as well as raise power expenses. Hardware components are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Little and covered CPU fan is hard to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while running, for example, by the user much earlier before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Mictray64.exe can easily lead to GPU failure3. Video cards are also prone to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Mictray64.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 common malicious programs through “severe” malware. Adware sometimes serves as a carrier for Mictray64.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that approximately 30% of all viruses spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Mictray64.exe is just one of them.
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
One more way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the unreliable web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to make money. Hence, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for each installation. Prior to criticizing these individuals for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus program and new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Mictray64.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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, along with the majority of non-crucial system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
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.
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