Ntoskrnl.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Ntoskrnl.exe executable file is related to a malevolent program that can correctly be identified as a coin miner virus. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin¹. It makes your personal computer pretty much nonfunctional as a result of high CPU use.

What is Ntoskrnl.exe process?

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

Ntoskrnl.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as critical as processor for system work, so Ntoskrnl.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes can cause unhappy effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

Your device overheats (system unit/laptop body is very hot)

You are not able to open your apps or they are opening for ages

Unknown process is running in the background and consumes your PC resources

Windows Defender does not respond

How dangerous is the Ntoskrnl.exe miner?

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

Initially, Ntoskrnl.exe virus makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, since all processor power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely sluggish performance. Pages will open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who works online.

Ntoskrnl.exe Technical Summary.

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

“Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners do to your system. Ntoskrnl.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To perform all malevolent functions correctly, it ruins the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments shall be thrown back to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.

Hardware effects of coin miner activity

Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, running at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your machine as well as increase electricity costs. PC components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

Tiny and well-protected processor fan is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for example, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Ntoskrnl.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure³. Graphic cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used 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 used in such a way.

How did I get Ntoskrnl.exe coin miner virus?

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

The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

An additional way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the unreliable website as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Hence, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper 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 Ntoskrnl.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.

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