Browser Miner Virus – How to Detect and Remove

Statistics from November this year revealed that 2,531 of the top 3 million websites are running the Coinhive miner, which amounts to 1 in 1,000 websites. To no one’s surprise, BitTorrent websites have been the main perpetrators. But they are not the only ones, as many other, often unexpected, websites are using users’ computer resources to mine for cryptocurrencies. Since the so-called browser miner virus is an emerging threat leveraging PC’s resources for crypto mining, users definitely need to know how to protect themselves from it. This article aims to help remove a browser miner virus from a computer.

Threat Summary

Name	Browser miner virus
Type	Cryptocurrency Miner
Short Description	A browser miner virus may exploit the CPU, GPU and other PC resources for the purpose of mining for various cryptocurrencies.
Symptoms	Increased CPU and GPU usage and overheating.
Distribution Method	Spam Emails, Email Attachments, Executable files, Hacked Websites
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by Browser miner virus Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss Browser miner virus.

Browser Miner Virus – Distribution Techniques

This type of threat is not entirely new to the threat landscape but it’s the first time researchers witness browser miner attacks at such a scale. Even though the exact distribution method of this threat is not yet known, researchers consider that the massively deployed methods for malware distribution are valid here as well. What does this mean?

A browser miner virus could be spread in the wild with the help of automatically generated email messages. This is an easy way to send the virus to as many victims as possible. The virus maybe attached to the email, or it could be present in the form of a script. The good news here is that email services are typically prepared to detect the signatures of the virus, and the messages may not reach the inbox if they were timely labeled as spam.

Nonetheless, this is not the only distribution form. The browser miner virus may be distributed through hyperlinks that are inserted in the email message itself. To lure the potential victim into clicking on it, the link may be disguised as something familiar to the user. Such redirects may send the user directly to hacked websites leveraged for cryptocurrency mining.

Other methods used for the distribution of browser miner viruses include the use of malicious websites and download (p2p) networks. Such websites are often used to spread malware across users worldwide, and the browser miner virus is not an exclusion of this well-known practice. The virus may even be hiding in infected documents, like spreadsheets, rich text documents, and databases. These could be altered to trigger the virus when the built-in scripts are activated. What usually happens in this case is that the user opens a notification prompting them to run macros, or scripts. Such an action will definitely lead to an infection with a browser miner virus.

Interestingly, browser hijackers may also be deployed in the distribution of miners – in the form of add-ons that are available for most browsers available to users, the most popular ones (Firefox, Chrome, Explorer, Edge, etc.) inclusive. If the user is tricked into installing such a malicious add-on (browser extension), he may end up being redirected to a hacked site leveraged for mining. However, according to the configuration of the hijacker, it can also perform other suspicious activities, like obtaining user login credentials, history, and similar.

Browser Miner Virus – Purpose, Capabilities, Deployment

It’s only logical to ask why this type of virus was created in the first place. The sole purpose of such a miner is to exploit the PC resources of unsuspecting users. These resources could be either or both the CPU and GPU of the system, depending on the cryptocurrency that the virus is mining for.

Another reason is that it is quite easy to start such a mining campaign. There is a ton of web services that can generate automatically compatible JavaScript code that will later be used in the mining operation. These services are prepared and they can support a variety of cryptocurrencies – like Bitcoin, Monero and Ethereum, among many others. These services can even provide tutorials to new beginners to help them initiate the mining operations. How is the money transferred? There may be some other options in combination with the unique wallet address. This is where the “crypto money” is going. In addition, CMS platforms can even provide plugins that make the whole process of code implementation quite easier.

Browser Miner Virus – Behavior and Consequences

Most browser miner virus types share an average behavioral pattern which leads to several outcomes for the user. One of these outcomes is the cross-browser contamination. What does this mean? Simply said, cross-browser contamination means that each subsequent browser window will escalate the pressure on the hardware resources and will divide them to several miner processes simultaneously. This leads to a problem known as resources allocation. This issue affects the whole operating system, be it Windows, Mac OS X, or Gnu/Linux. Unfortunately, there are miners available for each of these operating systems. As a result, the processor, memory and graphics card of a machine can be affected.

Moreover, there are two types of the browser miner virus, outlined as stand-alone miners and malware modules. As the name suggests, the second type is far more dangerous, compared to the stand-alone miners which are basically basic types. If the miner is deployed through malware module, it means that it has been implemented in ransomware, like an addition to the original components. This means that the system will be affected by both the ransomware and the miner. In order to avoid such bad infections, users need to think of their protection in advance.

Users should also keep in mind that, like every other virus out there, browser miner viruses are also evolving. Advanced JavaScript code may be used to allow the miner process to continue “working” even after the browser window is closed.

This is known as drive-by cryptomining, or cryptojacking. In a recent infection case researchers stumbled upon a technique that enabled hackers to keep mining for Monero even after the browser window was closed. The research was focused on the Chrome browser but other browsers may have been affected as well, with different outcomes for each browser.

What happens after a user visits a website, which is silently loading the mining code is that the CPU activity is increasing but it is not maxing out. After the user leaves the particular site via closing the Chrome window, his machine’s CPU activity remains higher than usual. This is a sign that the cryptomining process is not resumed with the closing of the browser.

Browser Miner Virus – Removal

There are different ways to deal with a browser miner virus depending on its type and capabilities. The more sophisticated the miner is, as in the recent cases of drive-by cryptomining, the more challenging it would be to deal with it.

If the miner is a basic one, the user may install a specific extension according to his browser that would stop the mining in the web browser. There is also the option to manually block domains that are associated with cryptocurrency mining.

However, if the system is affected by malware or ransomware that was equipped with a browser miner virus, then it is advisable to use a proper anti-malware solution to deal with all of the infections.

Manually delete Browser miner virus from your computer

Note! Substantial notification about the Browser miner virus threat: Manual removal of Browser miner virus requires interference with system files and registries. Thus, it can cause damage to your PC. Even if your computer skills are not at a professional level, don’t worry. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using a malware removal tool.

1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Browser miner virus files and objects

Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode

1. For Windows 7,XP and Vista. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Fix registry entries created by Browser miner virus on your PC.

For Windows XP, Vista, 7 systems:

1. Remove all CDs and DVDs, and then Restart your PC from the “Start” menu.
2. Select one of the two options provided below:

– For PCs with a single operating system: Press “F8” repeatedly after the first boot screen shows up during the restart of your computer. In case the Windows logo appears on the screen, you have to repeat the same task again.

– For PCs with multiple operating systems: Тhe arrow keys will help you select the operating system you prefer to start in Safe Mode. Press “F8” just as described for a single operating system.

3. As the “Advanced Boot Options” screen appears, select the Safe Mode option you want using the arrow keys. As you make your selection, press “Enter“.

4. Log on to your computer using your administrator account

While your computer is in Safe Mode, the words “Safe Mode” will appear in all four corners of your screen.

Step 1: Open the Start Menu

Step 2: Whilst holding down Shift button, click on Power and then click on Restart.
Step 3: After reboot, the aftermentioned menu will appear. From there you should choose Troubleshoot.

Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu you can choose Advanced Options.

Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.

Step 6: Click on Restart.

Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You should choose Safe Mode by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries of your computer to change different settings. This is why manual clean up of your Windows Registry Database is strongly recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit lenghty, we recommend following our instructive article about fixing registry entries.

2. Find malicious files created by Browser miner virus on your PC

Find malicious files created by Browser miner virus

1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows 7,XP and Vista.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

Step 1:

On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

Step 2:

Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

Step 3:

Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

Step 1:

Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

Step 2:

After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

Step 3:

After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

Automatically remove Browser miner virus by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

1. Remove Browser miner virus with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

Remove Browser miner virus with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove Browser miner virus.2. Scan with SpyHunter to Detect and Remove Browser miner virus.

Step 1:Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is highly recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to automatically update.

Step1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Scan Computer Now’ button.

Step2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any Browser miner virus files, click on the ‘Fix Threats’ button to remove them automatically and permanently.

Step3: Once the intrusions on your PC have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart it.

Optional: Using Alternative Anti-Malware Tools

Remove Browser miner virus Using Other Alternative Tools

STOPZilla Anti Malware

1. Download and Install STOPZilla Anti-malware to Scan for And Remove Browser miner virus.
Step 1: Download STOPZilla by clicking here.
Step 2: A pop-up window will appear. Click on the ‘Save File’ button. If it does not, click on the Download button and save it afterwards.

Step 3: After you have downloaded the setup, simply open it.
Step 4: The installer should appear. Click on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 5: Check the ‘I accept the agreement’ check circle if not checked if you accept it and click the ‘Next’ button once again.

Step 6: Review and click on the ‘Install’ button.

Step 7: After the installation process has completed click on the ‘Finish’ button.

2. Scan your PC with STOPZilla Anti Malware to remove all Browser miner virus associated files completely.
Step 1: Launch STOPZilla if you haven’t launched it after install.
Step 2: Wait for the software to automatically scan and then click on the ‘Repair Now’ button. If it does not scan automatically, click on the ‘Scan Now’ button.

Step 3: After the removal of all threats and associated objects, you should Restart your PC.

Milena Dimitrova

An inspired writer, focused on user privacy and malicious software. Enjoys 'Mr. Robot' and fears '1984'.

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