Nscpu.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Nscpu.exe executable file belongs to a harmful application that can correctly be identified as a coin miner trojan. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much nonfunctional because of high CPU usage.
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What is Nscpu.exe process?

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

As I have mentioned earlier, Nscpu.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file may be diverse, but the impacts are usually the identical. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware capacity of your PC to perform this procedure. This virus doesn’t care about the fact that you probably need to make use of your machine for other tasks – it will always use over 80% of your CPU power.

Nscpu.exe Windows Process

Nscpu.exe – Really high CPU/GPU use

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as vital as processor for system work, so Nscpu.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes may result in unhappy effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a strong computer is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of dozens of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “usual” 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 Nscpu.exe miner?

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

    Initially, Nscpu.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your demands, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely sluggish efficiency. Pages will open for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person that works online.

    Nscpu.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameNscpu.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorWrap.exe, Vncutil.exe, Comsore3.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Nscpu.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary bad activity coin miners perform to your computer. Nscpu.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To complete all malicious operations effectively, it ruins the protection components 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 ton of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your computer slow, performing at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device as well as raise electricity costs. Hardware elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and covered processor cooling system is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while working, for example, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Nscpu.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have fast wearing when utilized 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 Nscpu.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 widespread malevolent programs through “serious” malware. Adware often functions as a carrier for Nscpu.exe malware injection: it shows 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. However, the statistics show that approximately 30% of all malware spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Nscpu.exe is just with them.4

    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 dubious web page as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to get paid. Hence, there is a huge temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for each setup. Before criticizing these individuals for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Nscpu.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 tool. Proper anti-malware program should have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage even on weak PCs. Furthermore, it is better to have proactive security in your security solution – to stop the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these features for various reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect choice that fits all of the specified qualities.5

    Before the malware removal, it is important to boot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Nscpu.exe miner takes a lot of CPU power, it is required 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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, just like the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Nscpu.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 Nscpu.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Nscpu.exe

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