Wavepad.exe executable file comes from a harmful application that can accurately be identified as a coin miner trojan. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly unusable because of high CPU use.
What is Wavepad.exe process?
Wavepad.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Wavepad.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Wavepad.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It often may lead to unhappy results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Wavepad.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First of all, Wavepad.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, as all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your wants, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that works online.
Wavepad.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Wavepad.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Runner.exe, Apminertool.exe, Paint.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Wavepad.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary bad activity coin miners perform to your system. Wavepad.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malicious functions effectively, it wrecks the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts 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 are about to be gone back to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, performing at peak level for long times can cause damage to your device and raise electricity bills. PC components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Little and well-protected CPU fan is not very easy to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if touched while working, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Wavepad.exe malware can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. GPUs are also tend to have increased wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Wavepad.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
One more way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious web page 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 include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for every installation. Before criticizing these individuals for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Wavepad.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-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability 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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