Wmic.exe executable file comes from a malicious application that can accurately be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer almost unusable due to high CPU use.
What is Wmic.exe process?
Wmic.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Wmic.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Wmic.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes may cause sad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Wmic.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Firstly, Wmic.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, because all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, all it focuses on is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely slow efficiency. Pages will open for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that does a job online.
Wmic.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Wmic.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Microsoftedgeupdate.exe, Nvscpapisvr.exe, Rtkaudioservice64.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Wmic.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners perform to your personal computer. Wmic.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malicious functions correctly, it ruins the security components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be gone back to the initial state in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak level for a long period of time may cause damage to your machine as well as increase power costs. 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 processor cooling system is hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Wmic.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also tend to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad situation when the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Wmic.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 item on your PC is by downloading it from the unreliable website as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for each setup. Before blaming these guys for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus program and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Wmic.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 allows you to clean the PC 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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