With the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, the number of hidden miner viruses that exploit your device’s resources for unauthorized mining is also increasing.
What Are Miner Viruses?
A miner virus is a type of malware that stealthily infiltrates your computer or smartphone and uses its resources for cryptocurrency mining. The primary goal of such malware is to run a hidden miner that continuously solves mathematical problems to generate cryptocurrency, often without the user’s knowledge.
How Infection Occurs and Who Creates Miner Viruses?
Miner viruses are developed and distributed by cybercriminals, often aiming for financial gain. Infections can occur through downloading infected software, through dropper viruses, phishing emails, and operating system vulnerabilities. Mobile devices are also at risk, especially through insecure applications.
How to Identify and Remove a Miner Virus?
Signs of a miner infection include sudden performance drops, excessive heating of the device, suspicious processes in Task Manager, and consistently high CPU usage. Removal can be done through both manual methods and specialized utilities like Dr.Web CureIt!.
Miner viruses pose a serious threat to users as they can significantly degrade device performance. Using reliable antivirus software and adhering to precautionary measures can help prevent infections.