Updatekiller.exe process belongs to a malicious application that can correctly be defined as a coin miner trojan. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer almost nonfunctional due to high CPU usage.
What is Updatekiller.exe process?
Updatekiller.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have pointed out earlier, Updatekiller.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file may be different, however, the consequences are generally the identical. Because coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware capacity of your desktop to run this operation. This virus doesn’t take note of the fact that you may need to make use of your computer for other tasks – it will constantly consume over 80% of your CPU power.
Updatekiller.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Updatekiller.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
Cryptocurrency mining means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very strong desktop is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. 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 Updatekiller.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Updatekiller.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, because all processor power is consumed 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 browser is open, you will likely struggle with exceptionally slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that does a job online.
Updatekiller.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Updatekiller.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Pc_pcpc.exe, Windows.service, Packs.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Updatekiller.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners perform to your system. Updatekiller.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To perform all malevolent functions effectively, it wrecks the protection features 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 trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be gone back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your computer, running at peak level for a long period of time may cause damage to your machine and raise power costs. PC 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 fan is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Updatekiller.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also tend to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely an undesirable case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Updatekiller.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 common malicious programs through “severe” viruses. Adware frequently serves as a carrier for Updatekiller.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that about 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Updatekiller.exe is right among them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the suspicious web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. Thus, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these guys for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Updatekiller.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Removing such a virus needs the use of special app. Appropriate antivirus should have high capability at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage even on weak systems. Furthermore, it is better to have proactive protection in your security tool – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these features for various factors. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb choice that fits all of the specified characteristics.5
Before the malware removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Updatekiller.exe miner takes a lot of processor capacity, it is needed 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.
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 software, just like the majority of non-crucial system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Updatekiller.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 Updatekiller.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Updatekiller.exe
Description: The Updatekiller.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Updatekiller.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.
