Hidden Miner: How This Parasite Steals Your Computer's Power

Damn it, I'm so tired of these digital parasites! Ever since crypto became mainstream, every other jerk is trying to invade my computer and eat my resources. Now I'll tell you how I encountered this crap and what to do about it.

What kind of beast is a virus miner?

This is a sneaky thing – a program that quietly sneaks into your computer and starts mining bitcoins, ether, or some kind of monero for the benefit of some sly hacker. You think your computer is just lagging, but in reality, someone is profiting at your expense!

I myself fell for this bait when I downloaded the "free" video editor. A week later, my laptop became hellishly hot and screamed with fans, as if it was about to take off.

How This Works

Imagine that someone has secretly settled in your house and is using your water, electricity, and food. It's something like this:

1. Crawls through holes - downloaded files, phishing links, or through the browser.
2. It disguises itself as something harmless - like "system_update.exe"
3. It cranks up your CPU and GPU to the max — and let's solve your mathematical problems.
4. Sends the results to his owner, and you are left with the brakes and electricity bills

How to understand that you are being milked

Here are the main signs that this digital parasite is sitting on your computer:

• The computer is lagging like never before, even when you just open the browser.
• The fans are screaming like crazy
• The laptop is hot as a frying pan
• The processor or GPU is loaded at 80-100% without reason.
• The electricity bills have some astronomical figures.
• Suspicious processes are hanging in the task manager.

When I discovered a miner on my device, my processor was loaded at 95%, even though I had only opened my email. That was the first alarm!

How to find this bastard

Check what is consuming your resources

Open Task Manager ( Ctrl + Shift + Esc ) and see which processes are consuming your CPU. Look for strange names or system processes with unusually high load.

I had a process "svchost.exe" ( that looked like a system), which was consuming 80% of the CPU. I dug deeper - it turned out to be a fake!

Run a normal antivir

Not this built-in Windows garbage, but something serious — Kaspersky, Malverbytes, or Bitdefender. A full scan will show if there is an infection.

Check the autoload

These creatures like to be registered in autoplay:

1. Press Win + R, type "msconfig"
2. Go to the "Startup" tab
3. If you see something unfamiliar - Google the name and turn it off!

Don't forget about the browser

Many miners are now working directly from the browser. Check your extensions and remove anything suspicious. I once found some random extension called "CPU Helper" — how ironic, "helper"!

How to kill this infection

1. Stop the process in Task Manager
2. Find where it hides (правый click on the process → properties → location файла)
3. Remove this stuff completely with an antivirus
4. Clean up traces with a program like CCleaner
5. If everything is really bad — reinstall the system

How not to catch this crap again

After my incident, I became a paranoid person:

• I don't download software from unknown sites.
• I keep the antivirus updated
• I use script blockers in the browser
• I regularly check the system load.

Unlike those who chase super-fast mining on cool platforms, I prefer my computer to work for me, not for some crafty hacker!

Take care of your computer — it’s your tool, not someone else's mining farm!