Wpsnotify.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Wpsnotify.exe process belongs to a harmful program that can accurately be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer almost unusable because of high CPU usage.
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What is Wpsnotify.exe process?

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

As I have specified in the previous paragraph, Wpsnotify.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file can be different, but the impacts are usually the same. Because coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your desktop to conduct this operation. This virus does not pay attention to the fact that you probably want to make use of your machine for other activities – it will consistently take over 80% of your CPU power.

Wpsnotify.exe Windows Process

Wpsnotify.exe – Very high CPU/GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Wpsnotify.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes can result in bad effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining term means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a high-end desktop is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of graphic cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ PCs instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Extremely bad performance
  • CPU/GPU cooler fan creates a lot of noise
  • High temperature of the device (for laptops)
  • 80-90% consumption of CPU/GPU resources by an unknown process
  • Microsoft Defender is not working
  • How dangerous is the Wpsnotify.exe miner?

    Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system

    First, Wpsnotify.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all CPU power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from exceptionally sluggish efficiency. Pages can open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.

    Wpsnotify.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameWpsnotify.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorCaudiofilteragent64.exe, Sacpl.exe, Teamviewer_service.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Wpsnotify.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary bad activity coin miners perform to your system. Wpsnotify.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To conduct all malevolent functions successfully, it ruins the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your PC 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 making your computer slow, performing at peak level for long times can cause damage to your machine as well as increase power expenses. PC elements are created to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Little and well-protected CPU cooling system is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for example, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Wpsnotify.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also tend to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an unwanted case when the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Wpsnotify.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 prevalent malicious programs through “major” viruses. Adware often acts as a carrier for Wpsnotify.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that approximately 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Wpsnotify.exe is right with them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    An additional way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Hence, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for every 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 much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Wpsnotify.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 specific software. Effective antivirus must have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage also on weak PCs. Additionally, it is recommended to have on-run security in your protection solution – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for various factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect choice that fits all of the discussed characteristics.5

    Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Wpsnotify.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU power, 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, along with the majority of non-critical system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Wpsnotify.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 free trial

    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 Wpsnotify.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Wpsnotify.exe

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

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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    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.

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