Nig.exe process belongs to a malevolent application that can accurately be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly unusable as a result of high CPU utilization.
What is Nig.exe process?
Nig.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have mentioned previously, Nig.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file can be different, however, the impacts are almost always the identical. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your personal computer to perform this process. This virus does not care about the fact that you probably need to make use of your computer for other tasks – it will consistently use over 80% of your CPU power.
Nig.exe – Very high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will likely struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as vital as processor for system work, so Nig.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes can cause sad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining term means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a strong computer is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who make profit 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 Nig.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Firstly, Nig.exe malware 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 generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally slow performance. Pages will open up for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.
Nig.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Nig.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Hhjk.exe, Raven.qt, Eo.core |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Nig.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary negative activity coin miners perform to your personal computer. Nig.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To carry out all malicious functions correctly, it wrecks the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are added by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be gone back to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, running at peak level for a long period of time can cause damage to your device as well as increase power bills. PC components are created to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Compact and covered CPU fan is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while spinning, for instance, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Nig.exe malware can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have increased wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely an undesirable case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Nig.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 the most prevalent malevolent programs through “major” viruses. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Nig.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that approximately 30% of all viruses spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Nig.exe is just one of them.4
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 suspicious web page as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to get paid. Thus, there is a very big lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each installation. Before blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Nig.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Eliminating such a virus involves using specific tool. Proper antivirus must have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage even on weak PCs. In addition, it is better to have on-run protection in your protection tool – to halt the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for various reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits all of the specified characteristics.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Nig.exe miner takes a lot of processor 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.
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-critical Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Nig.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 Nig.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Nig.exe
Description: The Nig.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Nig.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.
- Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
