Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
Note! Your computer might be affected by Harvest Miner and other threats.
Threats such as Harvest Miner may be persistent on your system. They tend to re-appear if not fully deleted. A malware removal tool like SpyHunter will help you to remove malicious programs, saving you the time and the struggle of tracking down numerous malicious files. SpyHunter’s scanner is free but the paid version is needed to remove the malware threats. Read SpyHunter’s EULA and Privacy Policy
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
This blog post has been created to explain what is Harvest Miner cryptocurrency miner and show how to remove it from your computer plus protect your PC against future infections as well.
The Harvest Miner is a new cryptocurrency miner that is currently in development. Its creators have created it as an open-source alternative to the popular CoinHive script. We suspect that it will gain a very large popularity once it is ready.
Threat Summary
Name
Harvest Miner
Type
CryptoCurrency Miner Malware
Short Description
Aims to mine for different cryptocurrencies on the victim’s computer after which may begin to
Symptoms
The Harvest Miner miner may begin to slow down your computer by using over 90% of both your CPU and GPU. This may result in your cooling fans to work at higher speeds.
Distribution Method
Via bundled installers, fake setups or via other PUP that has already been installed on your PC.
Detection Tool
See If Your System Has Been Affected by Harvest Miner
The Harvest Miner is usually deployed to the victim computers via a web-based infection. This is done by placing a malware script into hacker-controlled sites. They are usually made using templates that pose as legitimate web services: download portals, web search engines and etc.
Such threats can also be pushed through spam email messages that contain interactive and rich text elements. A popular way of integrating coinminer scripts is to use various social engineering tactics in order to fool the victims into interacting with the malware component.
Another example would be the integration of the dangerous code in web scripts such as ads, banners, pop-ups and redirects. They are widely used on different sites and easily forwarded to the victims. In the last few months there has been a noticeable surge in the development of spam messages in the social networks. The criminals use hacked or stolen user credentials and post messages and posts that attempt to redirect the victims.
Harvest Miner Malware – Malicious Activity
The Harvest Miner follows the usual infection strategy used by other similar threats. Upon invocation it is loaded into memory and begins to take advantage of the available hardware resources to perform complex and intensive operations that result in the generation of cryptocurrency value that is sent to the criminal operators. At the moment it supports the Monero currency which is one of the well-known alternatives to Bitcoin. It has several distinct advantages over it, among which is its privacy-centric workflow. Instead of the public nature of Bitcoin’s blockchain the one used in Monero keeps the amount of transactions private. It is also difficult to pinpoint the transaction senders and receivers unless specific values are known. Monero is also known for having significantly lower transaction fees.
The Harvest Miner can be loaded into the browsers and can run efficienty once loaded into memory. At the moment the testing samples still do not match the performance ratings of more mature miners, however development is ongoing. The fact that the dangerous applications can run from a simple script makes it very dangerous. The compact size means that it can be executed from a variety of different types of pages.
The developers note that it is written using WebAssembly which means that browser-based attacks can directly invoke low-level byte code. The current implementation depends on several components:
Miner — Vanilla Javascript code.
JobThread — WebWorker Dispatcher.
WebWorker — Bundled WebAssembly/Assembly.js.
CryptoNote — Hashing Algorithm.
The code analysis shows that the Miner is used by the attackers to dispatch the malware commands to the JobThreads module. Its functions are to handled the requests and present the mining statistics: hash rate, total average, throttle and etc. The JobThread module is the part of the malware that is actually assigned with the task of controlling the miner threads. It interfaces with the CryptoNote algorithm specifications. All resulting operations are reported to the Miner instance which reports to the hacker operators via a network connection.
At the moment a final version is still not available however we suspect that once this is done the Harvest Miner will be adopted by the masses. The reason for this being is the fact that it is advertised as the open-source alternative to CoinHive which is one of the most popuar ways to deploy cryptocurrency miners. The main distinction and advantage of the Harvest Miner is the fact that it does not require a developers fee. All proceedings would go to the site operators.
Remove Harvest Miner Virus and Protect Your PC
Q: How Do I Remove Harvest Miner and How Do I Protect Myself In the Future?
A: In order to remove the Harvest Miner miner, you should first stop the malicious processes of the malware by entering Windows Task Manager and stopping the malicious task by right-clicking on the Harvest Miner process and clicking on End Process or End Process tree. This results in the virus stopping to mine. After doing so, you may want to remove the malware preferably by following the automatic or manual removal instructions below, if you have removed malware manually and have the experience. Be advised that security experts strongly recommend to remove the Harvest Miner miner malware automatically by downloading an advanced anti-malware software, that aims to scan for and erase all malware from your system plus protect it against future infections as well.
Note! Your computer system may be affected by Harvest Miner and other threats. Scan Your PC with SpyHunter SpyHunter is a powerful malware removal tool designed to help users with in-depth system security analysis, detection and removal of threats such as Harvest Miner. Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.
To remove Harvest Miner follow these steps:
1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Harvest Miner files and objects
OFFER
Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!
We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter
Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria
Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode
1. For Windows XP, Vista and 7. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Fix registry entries created by malware and PUPs on your PC.
For Windows XP, Vista and 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 up the Start Menu.
Step 2: Click on the Power button (for Windows 8 it is the little arrow next to the “Shut Down” button) and whilst holding down “Shift” click on Restart.
Step 3: After reboot, a blue menu with options will appear. From them you should choose Troubleshoot.
Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu choose Advanced Options.
Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.
Step 6: From the Startup Settings menu, click on Restart.
Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You can choose any of the three Safe Mode options by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.
Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries on your computer to change different settings. This is why cleaning your Windows Registry Database is recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit long and tampering with registries could damage your computer if not done properly you should refer and follow our instructive article about fixing registry entries, especially if you are unexperienced in that area.
2. Find files created by Harvest Miner on your PC
Find files created by Harvest Miner
1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
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.
IMPORTANT! Before starting the Automatic Removal below, 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.
Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs
3. Scan for malware and unwanted programs with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Scan your PC and Remove Harvest Miner with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Harvest Miner and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove Harvest Miner. Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.
Step 1: Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.
It is 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. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.
Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.
Step 1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.
Step 2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.
Step 3: If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.
Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future
IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats. We recommend you to read more about it and to download SOS Online Backup.
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
This blog post has been created to explain what is Harvest Miner cryptocurrency miner and show how to remove it from your computer plus protect your PC against future infections as well.
1. For Windows XP, Vista and 7.
2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.
Fix registry entries created by malware and PUPs on your PC.
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Harvest Miner and remove them.
Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.
