Skypeapp.exe executable file comes from a harmful program that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly nonfunctional due to high CPU usage.
What is Skypeapp.exe process?
Skypeapp.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Skypeapp.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as essential as CPU for system work, so Skypeapp.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
Crypto mining term means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful machine is required. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Skypeapp.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, Skypeapp.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, since all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is generating profits 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 for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person who does a job online.
Skypeapp.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Skypeapp.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Skypebackgroundhost.exe, Cxproper.exe, Mictray64.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Skypeapp.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your personal computer. Skypeapp.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malicious functions properly, it ruins the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new notes – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be thrown back to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, running at peak power for a long period of time may trigger damage to your machine as well as increase power bills. Hardware components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Little and covered CPU cooling system is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Skypeapp.exe virus can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. GPUs are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable case when the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Skypeapp.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 prevalent malicious programs through “major” viruses. Adware sometimes acts as a carrier for Skypeapp.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – 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 Skypeapp.exe is just one of them.
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another 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 well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a very big temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for each installation. Prior to criticizing these people for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program and new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Skypeapp.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 programs, along with the majority of non-crucial operating system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
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.
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