This article has been created with the purpose to explain what is the Butler Miner Trojan horse and how to remove this malware from your computer plus how to stop it from mining cryptocurrencies on your PC.
The Butler Miner Trojan is the type of malware whose primary purpose is to overuse the CPU and GPU resources of your PC once it has infected it. This may ultimately result in the miner making your computer sluggish, freezing at times and even may damage it’s critical system components. In addition to this, the Butler miner is a Trojan horse, meaning that this threat can perform series of unwanted activities on your computer, starting with stealing your important information or installing other viruses on your computer. This is why it is important that you focus on removing this cryptocurrency miner completely from your computer, preferably by using the information in this article.
Threat Summary
| Name | Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan |
| Type | Trojan Horse/Miner |
| Short Description | Infects your computer silently after which connects to a remote host and begins to use your CPU or GPU power to mine for cryptocurrencies. |
| Symptoms | The Butler Miner trojan may run a program into the explorer.exe process which results in the immediate activity of this miner forcing it to take power from your CPU and slow down your computer. |
| Distribution Method | Posing as a fake installer or via other malware. Malspam is also a potential scenario. |
| Detection Tool |
See If Your System Has Been Affected by malware
Download
Malware Removal Tool
|
User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan. |
Butler Miner Trojan – Distribution Methods
In order to be widespread, the Butler Miner Trojan’s primary purpose is to get you to be fooled to download a file, you believe is legitimate. Such files are often masked as legitimate types of files and can be sent to you in the form of seemingly important documents via e-mail, accompanied with convincing statements, for example:
In addition to this, the malicious files of the Butler Miner malware may also be spread as a result of various different types of fake setups of programs that can be uploaded online and waiting for you to be misled into downloading them. Such software is usually uploaded on shady software download sites and even via hacked accounts of uploaders on torrent tracker websites.It usually tends to imitate the following types of programs:
- Setups of software.
- Programs.
- Key generator.
- A driver installer.
- Game crack or patch, key generators or other software license activators.
Butler Miner Trojan – More Information
Once the Butler Miner Trojan is installed on your computer, the malware may begin to perform various different activities on your PC, including to drop it’s malicious files in the often targeted system folders of Windows:
- %AppData%
- %Roaming%
- %Temp%
- %Local%
- %LocalLow%
The Trojan may also create multiple different Windows registry entries in the Windows Registry Editor sub-keys in order for the Trojan to run automatically on System boot:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
Furthermore, the malware may also target other Windows Registry sub-keys with the one and only purpose to change settings of your computer.
The main goal of the Butler Miner Trojan, however is to connect your computer to a mining pool for what may be the Monero cryptocurrency, since this virus uses XMRig which it injects as a script. XMRig is a cryptocurrency miner and the Butler Miner Trojan injects it in the legitimate process explorer.exe of Windows. A cryptocurrency mining pool is a place where different miners combine their mining power to mine for blocks. When enough blocks are mined, the reward is given to the miners divided based on how much mining power they put in. The hackers who are behind the Butler Miner Trojan likely use the software to increase their mining power by linking their one miner wallet to many computers, hence generating more Monero tokens at the expense of your computer’s CPU and GPU resources. This may result in several negative outcomes for you, including breaking the components of your PC due to overusing them, especially if the malware stays on your computer for longer periods of time.
In addition to this, Butler Miner is a Trojan horse as well, meaning that it has all of the capabilities as a Trojan horse has, and this does include:
- Taking screenshots.
- Stealing Passwords you have saved on your web browser.
- Logging the keystrokes you type.
- Downloading and installing other malware on your computer.
- Information about your important files.
The main symptom of seeing the Butler Miner is not only your computer slowing down, but also more than a half of your CPU’s power may be utilized from the process explorer.exe. And another symptom is that your PC may automatically start the following software:
In addition to this, the miner malware may also run a window, that is called mgdisk without any consent or knowledge of the user.
How to Remove the Butler Miner Trojan from Your Computer
In order to remove this miner software from your PC we recommend that you follow the removal instructions underneath this article. They have been divided in manual and automatic removal methods and if you lack the experience in removing the Butler Miner Trojan manually we reccomend that you do it automatically, preferably by using an anti-malware software to scan for and remove all of the malicious files and objects created by the Butler Miner malware on your PC. Furthermore, such software will secure your PC against future infections as well and this is why most experts often recommend using this type of software.
Ventsislav Krastev
Ventsislav is a cybersecurity expert at SensorsTechForum since 2015. He has been researching, covering, helping victims with the latest malware infections plus testing and reviewing software and the newest tech developments. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for learning new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management, Network Administration and Computer Administration of System Applications, he found his true calling within the cybersecrurity industry and is a strong believer in the education of every user towards online safety and security.
Follow Me:
- Guide 1: How to Remove Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Windows.
- Guide 2: Get rid of Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Mac OS X.
- Guide 3: Remove Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Google Chrome.
- Guide 4: Erase Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Mozilla Firefox.
- Guide 5: Uninstall Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Microsoft Edge.
- Guide 6: Remove Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Safari.
- Guide 7: Eliminate Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Internet Explorer.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
How to Remove Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan
Step 2: Uninstall Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan and related software from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.
Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Get rid of Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 2: Scan for and remove Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. SpyHunter for Mac offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Google Chrome.
Step 1: Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu
Step 2: Move the cursor over "Tools" and then from the extended menu choose "Extensions"
Step 3: From the opened "Extensions" menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its "Remove" button.
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Erase Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Mozilla Firefox.
Step 1: Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window
Step 2: Select the "Add-ons" icon from the menu.
Step 3: Select the unwanted extension and click "Remove"
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Uninstall Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Microsoft Edge.
Step 1: Start Edge browser.
Step 2: Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.
Step 3: From the drop menu select "Extensions".
Step 4: Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.
Step 5: Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Safari.
Step 1: Start the Safari app.
Step 2: After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.
Step 3: From the menu, click on "Preferences".
Step 4: After that, select the 'Extensions' Tab.
Step 5: Click once on the extension you want to remove.
Step 6: Click 'Uninstall'.
A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select 'Uninstall' again, and the Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan will be removed.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Eliminate Butler Miner Coin Miner Trojan from Internet Explorer.
Step 1: Start Internet Explorer.
Step 2: Click on the gear icon labeled 'Tools' to open the drop menu and select 'Manage Add-ons'
Step 3: In the 'Manage Add-ons' window.
Step 4: Select the extension you want to remove and then click 'Disable'. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click 'Disable'.
Step 5: After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red 'X' button located at the top right corner and start it again.
