This article aims to help you by showing you what is the Taskhostw.exe process and how to remove the Taskhostw.exe miner from your computer.
A new Monero miner Trojan has been identified by malware researchers to drop malicious files on the computers of victims and overload the GPU and CPU of compromised devices in order to mine for the cryptocurrency Monero. The miner malware may enter computers while unnoticed and drop several files on them after which connect the victim PC to a mining pool and begin to overheat it’s components to generate profits to the ones who are behind this infection. Such malware is particularly risky and if you have it installed on your computer, recommendations are to immediately remove it, preferably by reading the information in this article.
Threat Summary
| Name | Taskhostw.exe Miner Malware |
| Type | Trojan Horse and Monero Miner Malware |
| Short Description | Aims to use the resources on the infected computers in order to generate Monero tokens to the cyber-criminals cryptocurrency wallet. |
| Symptoms | Slow computer plus the cooling fans running and the process taskhostw.exe running in Task Manager. |
| Distribution Method | Via malicious e-mail attachments, fake setups of files, malicious web links or fake updates. |
| Detection Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by Taskhostw.exe Miner Malware Download Malware Removal Tool | User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss Taskhostw.exe Miner Malware. |
Taskhostw.exe – How Does It Infect
In order to infect computers, Taskhostw.exe miner may come via variety of infection methods from the likes of:
- E-mail spam messages.
- Malicious setups which pose as fake setups of programs or games.
- Fake driver setups.
- Malicious web links posted on social media or other massively used services.
- Fake documents sent as attachments via chat services.
In addition to thise, the Taskhostw.exe miner malware may also be spread via other malware that may be currently residing on your computer, known as Trojan.Downloader. Such viruses may download other viruses or adware on your PC without your consent and may quickly compromise it’s defenses against various types of threats using variety of exploits.
Taskhostw.exe – Information and Activity
As soon as the Taskhostw.exe miner malware infects your computer, the malware drops the following files on your PC:
→ %UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\updatechecker.exe and
taskhostw.exe
The “updatechecker” file may perform series of unwanted activities on your computer, such schedule the other file “Taskhostw” to run automatically and display a fake Flash Player web page (shown on the image below).
In addition to this, the updatechecker.exe file may also perform series of other negative activities on your computer, besides running the miner program, such as:
- Take screenshots.
- Log your keystrokes.
- Copy saved passwords from your web browsers.
- Activate your camera.
- Copy files.
- Update itself.
- Download other malware on your computer.
- Copy processes of itself to make manual removal more difficult.
The other file, as you may have figured by now is the miner program. He Taskhostw.exe runs automatically after it has been set as an autorun by the WindowsUpdateChecker which triggers it on startup. After doing so, the miner connects the victim’s computer to the following Monero mining pool:
→ xmr-eu2.nanopool.org:2828
This pool in combination with the miner begins to mine for the Monero cryptocurrency. This process, also known as hashing, results in the virus beginning to take up a lot of the victim’s CPU and GPU resources, as seen from the screenshot below:
After doing so, the computer of the victim may immediately begin to slow-down, freeze and begin to open programs way slower than usual. The fans on the computer may also be running all the time, making noises. Either way, having this miner may not only severely increase your electricity costs, but may also begin to break your PC’s components due to overheating them, in case it remains undetected for longer periods of time. All of these reasons combined are enough to focus on the removal of this malware from your PC as soon as possible.
Remove Taskhostw.exe CryptoCurrency Miner from Your PC
In order to remove this miner malware from your computer system, it is recommended that you follow the removal steps down below. They are divided In manual or automatic removal manual. If you are not experienced enough in malware removal, it is strongly reccomended to remove Taskhosw.exe miner automatically, preferably by downloading an advanced anti-malware software, as experts suggest. Such tool will automatically scan for any file or object out of the ordinary on your computer and make sure that it is fixed and gone for good, if malicious, plus ensure that you also have future protection against intrusions.
1. For Windows 7,XP and Vista.
2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove Taskhostw.exe Miner Malware.
1. For Windows 7 and earlier
