Soundservice.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Soundservice.exe executable file comes from a malevolent application that can accurately be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much unusable because of high CPU utilization.
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What is Soundservice.exe process?

Soundservice.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have specified in the previous paragraph, Soundservice.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file may be different, but the consequences are usually the same. Considering that coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware capacity of your desktop to run this operation. This virus doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you may want to use your computer for other tasks – it will constantly consume over 80% of your processor power.

Soundservice.exe Windows Process

Soundservice.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU use

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will likely struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as essential as CPU for system work, so Soundservice.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It often can cause bad effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining term means the operation 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 strong machine is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ PCs instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Microsoft Defender is stopped;
  • CPU and GPU is loaded at 80-90% exactly after the system start
  • Cooling fans are running at high speed and create a lot of noise
  • A single process in Task Manager consumes all CPU and GPU power
  • How dangerous is the Soundservice.exe miner?

    Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system

    Firstly, Soundservice.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, because all processor power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, all it focuses on 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 will open for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.

    Soundservice.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Soundservice.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior K.exe, Kun.exe, Oko.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Soundservice.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a single bad thing coin miners perform to your computer. Soundservice.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To complete all malicious operations effectively, it ruins the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid 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 PC to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be gone back to the original in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your system’s performance, performing at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device and increase power bills. Hardware components are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Small and covered CPU fan is hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while running, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Soundservice.exe virus can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad case when the performance of your graphic card plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Soundservice.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 through “serious” viruses. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Soundservice.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that around 30% of all malware spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Soundservice.exe is just one of them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    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 suspicious website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to get paid. Hence, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each installation. Before blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? 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 Soundservice.exe miner from my PC?

    The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software

    Getting rid of such a virus demands using specific program. Appropriate antivirus should have high capability at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization also on weak PCs. 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 features for various reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb choice that fits all of the discussed characteristics.5

    Prior to the malware removal, it is important to boot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Soundservice.exe miner takes a lot of CPU power, it is required to stop 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.

    Boot into Windows Safe Mode

    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.

    windows safe mode boot option with command prompt

    When your PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, along with the majority of non-critical operating system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Soundservice.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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware free trial

    After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.

    Scanning in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware after the scan process

    Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.

    Remove Soundservice.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Soundservice.exe

    Description: The Soundservice.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Soundservice.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

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    I'm Robert Bailey, a passionate Security Engineer with a deep fascination for all things related to malware, reverse engineering, and white hat ethical hacking.

    As a white hat hacker, I firmly believe in the power of ethical hacking to bolster security measures. By identifying vulnerabilities and providing solutions, I contribute to the proactive defense of digital infrastructures.

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