Skynet.exe executable file is related to a malicious application that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much unusable because of high CPU usage.
What is Skynet.exe process?
Skynet.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Skynet.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Skynet.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It often can lead to bad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Skynet.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, Skynet.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, because all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your wants, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely slow performance. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Skynet.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Skynet.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Lineinst.exe, Minerhash.exe, Zecminer64.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Skynet.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners do to your PC. Skynet.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To perform all malicious functions correctly, it ruins the security 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 added by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be reverted to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, running at peak power for a long period of time may trigger damage to your machine and increase power costs. Hardware components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Little and covered CPU cooling system is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while working, for example, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Skynet.exe malware can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely a bad case when the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Skynet.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
Another way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the unreliable web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to earn money. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for each installation. Before blaming these guys for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Skynet.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 programs, along with the majority of non-critical system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the system 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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