Powershell_ise.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Powershell_ise.exe process belongs to a malevolent application that can accurately be identified as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much unfunctional due to high CPU usage.
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What is Powershell_ise.exe process?

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

As I have pointed out in the previous paragraph, Powershell_ise.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the executive file can be diverse, but the consequences are usually the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware capacity of your personal computer to conduct this procedure. This virus doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you may need to make use of your computer for other tasks – it will always take over 80% of your processor power.

Powershell_ise.exe Windows Process

Powershell_ise.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Powershell_ise.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It often can result in sad consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining is a term that means the activity 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 very strong desktop is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2

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 Powershell_ise.exe miner?

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

    First off, Powershell_ise.exe virus makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, as all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely slow efficiency. Pages can open for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that does a job online.

    Powershell_ise.exe Technical Summary.

    File NamePowershell_ise.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorSecurityhealthhost.exe, Sechealthui.exe, Dd_64.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Powershell_ise.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a single bad thing coin miners perform to your system. Powershell_ise.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To perform all malevolent operations successfully, it wrecks the protection mechanisms 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 brought in by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be reverted to the initial state in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your computer slow, running at peak power for a long period of time can cause damage to your machine as well as raise electricity costs. Hardware elements are created to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

    Small and well-protected CPU cooling system is hard to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while working, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Powershell_ise.exe malware can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely an unwanted case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Powershell_ise.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 “serious” viruses. Adware frequently acts as a carrier for Powershell_ise.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that about 30% of all viruses spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Powershell_ise.exe is right one of them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the dubious site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a huge lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for every installation. Before criticizing these people for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Powershell_ise.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 the use of special software. Appropriate anti-malware program should have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak systems. On top of that, it is better to have proactive security in your security tool – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for various reasons. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits all of the specified features.5

    Before the malware removal, it is important to boot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Powershell_ise.exe miner consumes a lot of processor 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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Powershell_ise.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 Powershell_ise.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Powershell_ise.exe

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