Upnpcont.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Upnpcont.exe process comes from a harmful program that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin. It makes your personal computer pretty much unusable because of high CPU utilization.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review
It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!
When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.
Gridinsoft Anti-Malware 6-day trial available.
EULA | Privacy Policy | 10% Off Coupon
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to be the first to know about news and our exclusive materials on information security.

What is Upnpcont.exe process?

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

As I have specified before, Upnpcont.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file may be diverse, however, the effects are usually the same. Since coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware capacity of your desktop to run this procedure. This malware does not take note of the fact that you may need to use your machine for other activities – it will consistently take over 80% of your processor power.

Upnpcont.exe Windows Process

Upnpcont.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Upnpcont.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. 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 integral element 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 purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of dozens of GPUs to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who make profit via Upnpcont.exe coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.1

List of the typical Upnpcont.exe 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 Upnpcont.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, Upnpcont.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, because all processor power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your demands, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly slow performance. Pages can open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that works online.

    Upnpcont.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” harm is not a single bad thing coin miners perform to your personal computer. Upnpcont.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To complete all malevolent operations successfully, it wrecks the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new notes – they are added by Upnpcont.exe coin miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments shall be reverted to the initial state in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your computer’s performance, running at peak power for a long period of time may cause damage to your device as well as increase electricity bills. Hardware components are created to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Tiny and well-protected 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 affected while running, for instance, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Upnpcont.exe virus can easily lead to GPU failur2. Graphic cards are also prone to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable case when {your GPU’s performance|the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Upnpcont.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 malevolent programs through “major” viruses. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Upnpcont.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that about 30% of all viruses spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Upnpcont.exe is just one of them.3

    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 site as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. Thus, there is a very big lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each installation. Prior to criticizing these individuals for hacking and also malware distribution, 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 software as well as new parts for your PC.

    How to remove the Upnpcont.exe miner from my PC?

    The best way to get rid of Upnpcont.exe virus is to use anti-malware software

    Removing such a virus demands the use of specific app. Proper anti-malware program must have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage even on weak computers. On top of that, it is better to have on-run protection in your protection solution – to stop the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these elements for different reasons. That’s why I ‘d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits all of the specified features.4

    Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Upnpcont.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU 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.

    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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, just like the majority of non-crucial operating system components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high CPU usage of Upnpcont.exe miner process.

    Remove Upnpcont.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 trial license

    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 Upnpcont.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Upnpcont.exe

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

    Sending
    User Review
    3.83 (6 votes)
    Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)

    References

    1. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    2. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    3. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    4. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

    Spanish Turkish

    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.

    Leave a Reply

    Sending