Zaiste.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Zaiste.exe process is related to a malevolent program that can accurately be defined as a coin miner trojan. That malware form uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost nonfunctional because of high CPU use.
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What is Zaiste.exe process?

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

As I have actually mentioned earlier, Zaiste.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file can be diverse, however, the effects are almost always the same. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware capacity of your PC to perform this procedure. This virus does not care about the fact that you may want to use your device for other tasks – it will consistently take over 80% of your CPU power.

Zaiste.exe Windows Process

Zaiste.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU usage

Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as essential as CPU for system work, so Zaiste.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes may lead to sad results.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining term means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a strong computer is needed. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. 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

  • Microsoft Defender is stopped;
  • CPU and GPU is loaded at 80-90% exactly after the system start
  • Cooling fans are running at high speed and create a lot of noise
  • A single process in Task Manager consumes all CPU and GPU power
  • How dangerous is the Zaiste.exe miner?

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

    Initially, Zaiste.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who works online.

    Zaiste.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Zaiste.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Xx.exe, Works.exe, Rundll32.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Zaiste.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your PC. Zaiste.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To perform all malicious functions effectively, it wrecks the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your computer slow, running at peak power for long times can trigger damage to your device and increase power costs. PC elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Small and covered processor fan is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while working, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Zaiste.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely an undesirable situation when the performance of your video card decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Zaiste.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 common malicious programs among “serious” malware. Adware often acts as a carrier for Zaiste.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that approximately 30% of all malware spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Zaiste.exe is right one of them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    Another way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the suspicious site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not require 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 application and receive a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these guys for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Zaiste.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 involves the use of specific software. Effective security tool should have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization even on weak computers. Additionally, it is recommended to have on-run protection in your protection tool – to halt the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these elements for different factors. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits each of the mentioned qualities.5

    Before the malware removal, it is important to boot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Zaiste.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU power, it is needed 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.

    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 applications, just like the majority of non-crucial system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Zaiste.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 Zaiste.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Zaiste.exe

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