Sens.exe executable file belongs to a malevolent program that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware form uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost unusable because of high CPU use.
What is Sens.exe process?
Sens.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually pointed out before, Sens.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file may be diverse, but the effects are usually the identical. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your PC to conduct this operation. This malware doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you probably need to make use of your PC for other tasks – it will always consume over 80% of your processor power.
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Sens.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often may cause bad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining is a term that means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a high-end computer is required. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Sens.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Sens.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, since all processor power is used by a virus. 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 browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely 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.
Sens.exe Technical Summary.
File Name | Sens.exe |
Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
Similar behavior | 12.exe, Msiexec64.exe, Conhost.exe |
Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Sens.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single negative activity coin miners perform to your system. Sens.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To carry out all malevolent operations successfully, it wrecks the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be thrown back to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, performing at peak power for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device as well as raise power costs. PC elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Little and well-protected CPU fan is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while spinning, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Sens.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely an unwanted situation when the performance of your video card decreases on 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Sens.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 widespread malicious programs among “major” malware. Adware frequently functions as a carrier for Sens.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that approximately 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Sens.exe is just among them.4
An additional way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the unreliable web page as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to get paid. Thus, there is a huge lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for every setup. Before blaming these individuals for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing 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 as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Sens.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Eliminating such a virus needs the use of specific app. Effective antivirus must have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage also on weak systems. Additionally, it is recommended to have on-run protection in your protection solution – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for various reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits each of the discussed qualities.5
Before the malware removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Sens.exe miner takes a lot of processor power, 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.
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 software, 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.
Remove Sens.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.
After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.
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.
Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.
Remove Sens.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Sens.exe
Description: The Sens.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Sens.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
User Review
( votes)References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
- Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.