Runner.exe process is related to a harmful program that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer almost unfunctional due to high CPU usage.
What is Runner.exe process?
Runner.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Runner.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Runner.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often may result in unhappy effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Runner.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First of all, Runner.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, because all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally slow efficiency. Pages can open up for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that does a job online.
Runner.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Runner.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Apminertool.exe, Paint.exe, Dism.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Runner.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners perform to your personal computer. Runner.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malicious operations successfully, it ruins 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 number of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be thrown back to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak level for long times may trigger damage to your machine as well as increase power costs. Hardware components are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Little and covered processor fan is hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Runner.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. GPUs are also tend to have increased wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is surely an undesirable situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Runner.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 dubious web page as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. For this reason, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every installation. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Runner.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 applications, just like the majority of non-critical system 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.
References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
Leave a Comment