Protectedmodulehost.exe executable file belongs to a malevolent program that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much unfunctional due to high CPU usage.
What is Protectedmodulehost.exe process?
Protectedmodulehost.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Protectedmodulehost.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Protectedmodulehost.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It often may lead to unhappy results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Protectedmodulehost.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Protectedmodulehost.exe virus makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with exceptionally slow performance. Pages can open for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who does a job online.
Protectedmodulehost.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Protectedmodulehost.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Mfebrowserhost.exe, Mcshield.exe, Servicehost.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Protectedmodulehost.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners do to your personal computer. Protectedmodulehost.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To carry out all malicious operations properly, it ruins the protection features 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 lot of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your system’s performance, performing at peak power for a long period of time may cause damage to your machine as well as increase power expenses. Hardware elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Tiny and covered processor fan is hard to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Protectedmodulehost.exe virus can easily lead to GPU failure3. GPUs are also prone to have very fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely an undesirable case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Protectedmodulehost.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
One more way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious web page as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to get paid. Thus, there is a huge lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for each installation. Before criticizing these people for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Protectedmodulehost.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 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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