Pnkbstra.exe process belongs to a malevolent program that can properly be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer almost unusable because of high CPU usage.
What is Pnkbstra.exe process?
Pnkbstra.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Pnkbstra.exe – Really high CPU/GPU usage
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Pnkbstra.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often can lead to unhappy consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Pnkbstra.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Firstly, Pnkbstra.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, since all CPU power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your wants, all it focuses on is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with exceptionally sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.
Pnkbstra.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Pnkbstra.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Fluorosulfonic.exe, Bvhost.exe, Mingc.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Pnkbstra.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single negative thing coin miners perform to your PC. Pnkbstra.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malevolent functions correctly, it wrecks the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new notes – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be reverted to the initial state in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your computer slow, performing at peak power for long times can trigger damage to your device as well as raise power 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.
Little and well-protected CPU cooling system is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Pnkbstra.exe malware can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have increased wearing when utilized 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 Pnkbstra.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 item on your PC is by downloading it from the suspicious website as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. Hence, there is a huge lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for each installation. Prior to blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus program and new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Pnkbstra.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 applications, just like the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
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