What is Unpack.exe process?
As I have actually pointed out in the previous paragraph, Unpack.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file may be different, but the impacts are generally the same. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware power of your desktop to run this procedure. This virus does not care about the fact that you may want to make use of your PC for other tasks – it will constantly consume over 80% of your processor power.
Unpack.exe – Very high CPU and GPU use
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as essential as CPU for system work, so Unpack.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It often may result in unhappy effects.
Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very strong machine is needed. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of dozens of graphic cards to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Unpack.exe miner?
Initially, Unpack.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, because all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly sluggish efficiency. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that works online.
Unpack.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Unpack.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Captures.exe, Flbmusic.exe, Itibiti.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Unpack.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary negative thing coin miners do to your system. Unpack.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To complete all malicious functions successfully, it ruins the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be thrown back to the initial state in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, performing at peak power for long times can cause damage to your device and increase electricity expenses. Hardware elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Tiny and covered processor cooling system is hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Unpack.exe miner can easily lead to GPU failure3. GPUs are also tend to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely an unwanted situation when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Unpack.exe coin miner virus?
Coin miners are one of the most common malicious programs through “severe” viruses. Adware frequently acts as a carrier for Unpack.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that approximately 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Unpack.exe is just one of them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
One more way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the suspicious site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Hence, there is a very big lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each setup. Prior to blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Unpack.exe miner from my PC?
Removing such a virus requires using specific tool. Proper security tool must have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak systems. Furthermore, it is better to have on-run protection in your security tool – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for different factors. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great choice that fits each of the discussed qualities.5
Download GridinSoft Anti-MalwarePrior to the malware removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Unpack.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU power, it is required to stop it before launching the security program. Otherwise, your scan will last for years, even though the GridinSoft program is pretty lightweight.
Booting the PC into Safe Mode with Networking
Press the Start button, then choose Power, and click on Reboot while holding the Shift key on the keyboard.
Windows will reboot into recovery mode. In that mode, choose Troubleshoot→ Startup Settings→ Safe Mode with Networking. Press the corresponding button on your keyboard to choose that option.
When your system is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, along with the majority of non-critical operating system components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Unpack.exe coin miner virus with GridinSoft Anti-Malware
Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware. You can use this anti-malware program for free during its 6-day trial period. In that term, all functions are available, and it takes no payments to remove malware from your system.
After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.
When the scan is finished, press the Clean Now button to remove all detected elements from your system. This procedure takes less than a minute.
Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.
References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
- Read more about various malware type on GridinSoft Threat Encyclopedia.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
