Mouso.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Mouso.exe executable file is related to a malicious program that can correctly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much nonfunctional because of high CPU usage.
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What is Mouso.exe process?

Mouso.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have pointed out before, Mouso.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the executive file can be diverse, however, the impacts are usually the same. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware capacity of your personal computer to perform this process. This malware does not pay attention to the fact that you may want to make use of your computer for other tasks – it will continuously consume over 80% of your CPU power.

Mouso.exe Windows Process

Mouso.exe – Really high CPU and GPU use

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as essential as processor for system work, so Mouso.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often may cause unhappy results.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining is a term that 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 very strong desktop is required. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “usual” 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

  • Microsoft Defender is stopped;
  • CPU and GPU is loaded at 80-90% exactly after the system start
  • Cooling fans are running at high speed and create a lot of noise
  • A single process in Task Manager consumes all CPU and GPU power
  • How dangerous is the Mouso.exe miner?

    Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system

    Firstly, Mouso.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, 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 incredibly slow efficiency. Pages can open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that does a job online.

    Mouso.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Mouso.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Aggregatorhost.exe, Windows.security, Drive.watchdog
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Mouso.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your PC. Mouso.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malevolent functions correctly, it ruins the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be gone back to the original in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your system’s performance, performing at peak level for long times can cause damage to your device as well as raise electricity bills. PC elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

    Small and well-protected processor cooling system is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Mouso.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an undesirable situation when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Mouso.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 prevalent malevolent programs among “serious” malware. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Mouso.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that approximately 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Mouso.exe is right among them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    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 web page 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 malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for each installation. Before blaming these individuals for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your PC.

    How to remove the Mouso.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 requires the use of special app. Appropriate antivirus must have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization also on weak systems. Additionally, it is better to have on-run security in your security solution – to stop the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits all of the specified characteristics.5

    Prior to the malware removal, it is important to boot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Mouso.exe miner takes a lot of CPU power, it is required to stop 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.

    Boot into Windows Safe Mode

    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.

    windows safe mode boot option with command prompt

    When your system is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, along with the majority of non-critical operating system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Mouso.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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware free trial

    After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.

    Scanning in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware after the scan process

    Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.

    Remove Mouso.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Mouso.exe

    Description: The Mouso.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Mouso.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

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    I'm Robert Bailey, a passionate Security Engineer with a deep fascination for all things related to malware, reverse engineering, and white hat ethical hacking.

    As a white hat hacker, I firmly believe in the power of ethical hacking to bolster security measures. By identifying vulnerabilities and providing solutions, I contribute to the proactive defense of digital infrastructures.

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