Tail.exe executable file belongs to a malevolent application that can properly be recognized as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly unfunctional because of high CPU usage.
What is Tail.exe process?
Tail.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually specified in the previous paragraph, Tail.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file may be different, however, the impacts are generally the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware power of your PC to run this operation. This virus doesn’t take note of the fact that you may need to use your PC for other activities – it will constantly use over 80% of your processor power.
Tail.exe – Really high CPU/GPU usage
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Tail.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes may result in sad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining is a term that means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful computer is needed. 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 conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who gain money 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 Tail.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First off, Tail.exe malware makes your PC 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 needs, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely slow performance. Pages can open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that works online.
Tail.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Tail.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | 1.exe, Eml.exe, V4_tool.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Tail.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners do to your personal computer. Tail.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To execute all malevolent operations properly, it wrecks the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak power for long times can trigger damage to your device and raise power 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.
Compact and covered processor cooling system is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while running, for instance, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Tail.exe virus can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also tend to have fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is surely an undesirable situation when the performance of your video card decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Tail.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 common malicious programs through “severe” viruses. Adware often works as a carrier for Tail.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which contain 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 about 30% of all malware spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Tail.exe is just one of them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
One more way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious site as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a huge lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these guys for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Tail.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 requires using specific program. Proper antivirus must have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage also on weak computers. Additionally, it is better to have proactive protection in your protection tool – to stop the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these elements for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal option that fits each of the specified features.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Tail.exe miner takes a lot of processor capacity, 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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Tail.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 Tail.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Tail.exe
Description: The Tail.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Tail.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.
