Prem.exe executable file is related to a malevolent application that can accurately be identified as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system pretty much unusable due to high CPU usage.
What is Prem.exe process?
Prem.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Prem.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU usage
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Prem.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It often can lead to bad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Prem.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Prem.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly slow 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 does a job online.
Prem.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Prem.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Osdmnuu.exe, Npe.exe, Wndows.driver |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Prem.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your computer. Prem.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To conduct all malicious operations properly, it wrecks the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be thrown back to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, running at peak level for a long period of time may trigger damage to your device and increase power costs. PC elements 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 well-protected CPU cooling system is hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while running, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Prem.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also tend to have fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Prem.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 PC is by downloading it from the untrustworthy web page as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. For this reason, there is a huge temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for each installation. Before criticizing these guys for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Prem.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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, along with the majority of non-crucial operating system 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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