Mstsca.exe executable file comes from a malicious program that can accurately be identified as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much unfunctional because of high CPU utilization.
What is Mstsca.exe process?
Mstsca.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have pointed out before, Mstsca.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file can be different, however, the impacts are generally the identical. Since coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware capacity of your personal computer to run this procedure. This malware doesn’t care about the fact that you probably need to make use of your system for other tasks – it will continuously take over 80% of your processor power.
Mstsca.exe – Very high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Mstsca.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often may cause bad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a high-end PC is needed. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who gain money 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 Mstsca.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Mstsca.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, as all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person who works online.
Mstsca.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Mstsca.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Xmr.stak, Iper.exe, 3r3skmpuvcoiyp.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Mstsca.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary negative thing coin miners do to your personal computer. Mstsca.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To perform all malevolent functions successfully, it ruins the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be thrown back to the original in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your computer, running at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device as well as raise electricity expenses. PC components are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Tiny and well-protected processor cooling system is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while working, for example, by the user much before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Mstsca.exe virus can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Mstsca.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 malicious programs among “major” viruses. Adware often serves as a carrier for Mstsca.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that around 30% of all malware spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Mstsca.exe is right one of them.
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 unreliable site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each setup. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Mstsca.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 making use of specific tool. Appropriate antivirus should have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization also on weak systems. On top of that, it is recommended to have proactive protection in your protection tool – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for different reasons. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal option that fits each of the mentioned features.4
Prior to the malware removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Mstsca.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU capacity, it is needed 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 apps, along with the majority of non-crucial operating system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Mstsca.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 Mstsca.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Mstsca.exe
Description: The Mstsca.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Mstsca.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.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
