Vncutil.exe process is related to a malicious application that can correctly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer almost unfunctional because of high CPU usage.
What is Vncutil.exe process?
Vncutil.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Vncutil.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as critical as processor for system work, so Vncutil.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often can cause unhappy consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Vncutil.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Vncutil.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with incredibly slow efficiency. Pages can open for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Vncutil.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Vncutil.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Nod42.exe, Health.exe, Cvc.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Vncutil.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your PC. Vncutil.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To carry out all malevolent functions 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 open 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 thrown back to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, running at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your machine as well as increase electricity bills. PC elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Small and covered CPU fan is hard to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while running, for example, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Vncutil.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is surely a bad case when the performance of your video card plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Vncutil.exe coin miner virus?
Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
An additional way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the suspicious site as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. For this reason, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for every setup. Prior to criticizing these people for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program and new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Vncutil.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
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 system components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
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