Msisa.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Msisa.exe process is related to a malicious program that can properly be identified as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer almost unusable because of high CPU usage.

What is Msisa.exe process?

Msisa.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Msisa.exe Windows Process

Msisa.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU usage

Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Msisa.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It often may cause unhappy consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Extremely bad performance
  • CPU/GPU cooler fan creates a lot of noise
  • High temperature of the device (for laptops)
  • 80-90% consumption of CPU/GPU resources by an unknown process
  • Microsoft Defender is not working
  • How dangerous is the Msisa.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, Msisa.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, because all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from exceptionally slow performance. Pages can open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that works online.

    Msisa.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Msisa.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior 7z2107.exe, Thunderstrike.exe, Dom.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Msisa.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary bad thing coin miners perform to your computer. Msisa.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malevolent functions properly, it ruins the security components 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 load of new notes – they are added by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be gone back to the original in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your computer slow, performing at peak level for long times can trigger damage to your device and raise power expenses. Hardware elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Little and well-protected processor fan is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Msisa.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an unwanted 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 Msisa.exe coin miner virus?

    Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources
    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    An additional way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the untrustworthy site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for every setup. Before blaming these people for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing 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 computer.

    How to remove the Msisa.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.

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

    References

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

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    Security engineer focused on malware behavior, removal workflows, and Windows hardening. Robert reviews threat articles for practical accuracy, checking detection names, symptoms, and cleanup steps before publication.

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