Msx.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Msx.exe executable file is related to a malicious program that can accurately be defined as a coin miner trojan. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer roughly nonfunctional as a result of high CPU utilization.
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What is Msx.exe process?

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

As I have pointed out before, Msx.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file may be different, but the impacts are almost always the identical. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware capacity of your PC to run this procedure. This virus doesn’t take note of the fact that you probably want to make use of your device for other tasks – it will continuously use over 80% of your CPU power.

Msx.exe Windows Process

Msx.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 case, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Msx.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It often can result in bad effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining is a term that means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a high-end PC is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this purpose, 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 computer systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks 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

  • 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 Msx.exe miner?

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

    First, Msx.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 focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly sluggish efficiency. Pages will open for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.

    Msx.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Msx.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Kruspeedup.exe, Xmr.stak, Driver.windows
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Msx.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a solitary negative activity coin miners do to your personal computer. Msx.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To execute all malevolent operations correctly, it wrecks the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining 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 making your PC slow, performing at peak level for a long period of time may trigger damage to your device and raise power bills. Hardware elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and well-protected CPU cooling system is quite hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, 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 Msx.exe can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have increased wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an undesirable case when the performance of your graphic card plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Msx.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 through “serious” viruses. Adware often acts as a carrier for Msx.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that about 30% of all malware spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Msx.exe is just with them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the untrustworthy site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Hence, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every installation. 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 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your PC.

    How to remove the Msx.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 demands making use of special tool. Proper security tool must have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization also on weak systems. Furthermore, it is better to have on-run security in your security solution – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these elements for different reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits all of the mentioned features.5

    Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Msx.exe miner takes 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.

    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 software, along with the majority of non-crucial operating system components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Msx.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 Msx.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Msx.exe

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