Sym.exe process comes from a harmful program that can correctly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much unfunctional due to high CPU utilization.
What is Sym.exe process?
Sym.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have pointed out in the introduction, Sym.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file can be different, but the consequences are generally the identical. Because coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your personal computer to conduct this procedure. This virus doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you may need to use your desktop for other tasks – it will always take over 80% of your CPU power.
Sym.exe – Very high CPU/GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as critical as CPU for system work, so Sym.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often can result in unhappy results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very strong computer is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of dozens 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’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Sym.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Firstly, Sym.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, as all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience extremely sluggish performance. Pages can open up for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who works online.
Sym.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Sym.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Davonevur.exe, Jokerpos.exe, Chrosha.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Sym.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners do to your personal computer. Sym.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malicious operations successfully, it wrecks the security mechanisms 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 load of new notes – they are added by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be thrown back to the original in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, performing at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device and increase electricity expenses. PC components are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Tiny and well-protected processor cooling system is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while spinning, for instance, by the user much before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Sym.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure. Video cards are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Sym.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 one of the most widespread malevolent programs among “serious” viruses. Adware often functions as a carrier for Sym.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that approximately 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Sym.exe is just one of them.
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
An additional way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the suspicious site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to make money. For this reason, there is a very big temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for every installation. Before criticizing these guys for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software and new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Sym.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 involves the use of specific app. Effective antivirus should have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage even on weak PCs. In addition, it is better to have on-run protection in your protection solution – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these elements for various reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb option that fits each of the mentioned features.2
Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Sym.exe miner takes a lot of processor capacity, it is required 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 applications, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Sym.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.
User Review
( votes)References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
