Windowssecurity.exe executable file belongs to a malevolent program that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost unfunctional due to high CPU usage.
What is Windowssecurity.exe process?
Windowssecurity.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually specified earlier, Windowssecurity.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file may be different, but the impacts are generally the same. Because coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware capacity of your personal computer to perform this procedure. This virus does not care about the fact that you may want to use your machine for other activities – it will constantly take over 80% of your processor power.
Windowssecurity.exe – Very high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as essential as CPU for system work, so Windowssecurity.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It often can cause sad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining term means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very strong computer is required. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who make profit 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 Windowssecurity.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, Windowssecurity.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, since all processor 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 browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely slow efficiency. Pages can open for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.
Windowssecurity.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Windowssecurity.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Hidfind.exe, Msisa.exe, 7z2107.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Windowssecurity.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary negative thing coin miners perform to your system. Windowssecurity.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malevolent operations successfully, it ruins the protection features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments shall be gone back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, performing at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your machine and increase power 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.
Tiny and well-protected CPU fan is hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while working, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Windowssecurity.exe miner can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely a bad case 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 Windowssecurity.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 widespread malevolent programs among “serious” malware. Adware sometimes acts as a carrier for Windowssecurity.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that approximately 30% of all malware spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Windowssecurity.exe is just one of them.4
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 dubious site 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 get paid. For this reason, there is a very big temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each installation. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Windowssecurity.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Getting rid of such a virus needs making use of special app. Appropriate antivirus must have high capability at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak systems. On top of that, it is better to have proactive security in your security solution – to prevent the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for various factors. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb choice that fits each of the mentioned features.5
Before the virus removal, it is important to boot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Windowssecurity.exe miner consumes a lot of processor power, it is required 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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, along with the majority of non-critical Windows 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 Windowssecurity.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 Windowssecurity.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Windowssecurity.exe
Description: The Windowssecurity.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Windowssecurity.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.
