Screencapture.exe executable file comes from a malevolent application that can accurately be defined as a coin miner trojan. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly unusable as a result of high CPU usage.
What is Screencapture.exe process?
Screencapture.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Screencapture.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU use
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will likely struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as critical as CPU for system work, so Screencapture.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It often can lead to bad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Screencapture.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Screencapture.exe virus makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with exceptionally sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person who does a job online.
Screencapture.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Screencapture.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Setup.rar, Es4.runtask, Videos.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Screencapture.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary bad thing coin miners do to your PC. Screencapture.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malevolent functions properly, it ruins the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton 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 initial state in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your system’s performance, running at peak power for long times can trigger damage to your machine and increase power bills. PC components are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Compact and well-protected processor fan is hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for instance, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Screencapture.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also tend to have increased wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an unwanted case when the performance of your video card decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Screencapture.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 thing on your computer is by downloading it from the untrustworthy website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not demand 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 application and get a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these guys for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software and new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Screencapture.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 computer 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 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.
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