Yam64-generic.exe process belongs to a malicious program that can correctly be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly nonfunctional as a result of high CPU utilization.
What is Yam64-generic.exe process?
Yam64-generic.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have specified in the introduction, Yam64-generic.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file may be different, however, the effects are generally the same. Because coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your personal computer to run this operation. This malware does not care about the fact that you may need to make use of your machine for other activities – it will consistently consume over 80% of your CPU power.
Yam64-generic.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU usage
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will likely struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Yam64-generic.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It sometimes can result in sad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining term means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a strong machine is required. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Yam64-generic.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Yam64-generic.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, because all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that works online.
Yam64-generic.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Yam64-generic.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Telegramunosetup.exe, Bsmss.exe, Setupsmss.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Yam64-generic.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary negative activity coin miners perform to your PC. Yam64-generic.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malevolent operations effectively, it ruins the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be gone back to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, running at peak power for long times may trigger damage to your device and increase electricity bills. Hardware elements are created to easily deal 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, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Yam64-generic.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. Video cards are also prone to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely an undesirable case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Yam64-generic.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 malevolent programs through “major” malware. Adware frequently works as a carrier for Yam64-generic.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that about 30% of all malware spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Yam64-generic.exe is just one of them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the suspicious site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for every installation. Before blaming these people for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid buying 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 program and new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Yam64-generic.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Removing such a virus requires using special program. Appropriate anti-malware program must have high capability at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage also on weak computers. Additionally, it is recommended to have proactive protection in your security tool – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for various factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits each of the mentioned qualities.5
Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Yam64-generic.exe miner takes a lot of CPU capacity, 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.
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 apps, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Yam64-generic.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 Yam64-generic.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Yam64-generic.exe
Description: The Yam64-generic.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Yam64-generic.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.
