Yandex.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Yandex.exe process is related to a malevolent program that can properly be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much nonfunctional as a result of high CPU usage.
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What is Yandex.exe process?

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

As I have mentioned earlier, Yandex.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the executive file can be different, however, the consequences are usually the same. Considering that coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware power of your desktop to perform this process. This virus doesn’t care about the fact that you may want to make use of your machine for other activities – it will consistently use over 80% of your CPU power.

Yandex.exe Windows Process

Yandex.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU use

Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as vital as processor for system work, so Yandex.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes can lead to unhappy consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very strong machine is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who gain money 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

  • 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 Yandex.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, Yandex.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, since all processor power is consumed by a malware. 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 will open up for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that works online.

    Yandex.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Yandex.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Qasek.exe, Task16minerstarter.exe, Wmpemgr.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Yandex.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a single negative activity coin miners perform to your system. Yandex.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To complete all malevolent functions effectively, it wrecks the security components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new notes – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be gone back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your system’s performance, running at peak level for long times can trigger damage to your device as well as increase power costs. Hardware elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Small and well-protected CPU cooling system is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Yandex.exe miner can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. GPUs are also prone to have fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable situation when the performance of your graphic card plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Yandex.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 the most widespread malicious programs among “major” viruses. Adware sometimes serves as a carrier for Yandex.exe malware injection: it shows 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. But the statistics show that about 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Yandex.exe is right among them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more 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 variants of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to get paid. For this reason, there is a very big lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for each installation. Prior to blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Yandex.exe miner from my PC?

    The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software

    Eliminating such a virus needs making use of specific tool. Proper security tool must have high capability at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization also on weak systems. In addition, it is better to have on-run protection in your protection solution – to stop the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for various reasons. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal option that fits each of the mentioned features.5

    Prior to the virus removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Yandex.exe miner consumes a lot of processor 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.

    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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, along with the majority of non-crucial operating system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Yandex.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 Yandex.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Yandex.exe

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